Collected Thoughts 06-01-09

• I think I'm doin' Castledoor at Spaceland Monday night. FREE.

• Since digital content lacks album art or dust jackets, hard drive design is evolving to fill the void.
  

• Lupi Miguinti, who does the CGT Fiend Folio flier art, has gotten quite a bit of attention with her Michelle Bachmann comic.

• Here is a must read: "The New Socialism: Global Collectivist Society is Coming Online"
  
  
• You prefer another target? A military target? Then name the system!

• Cool pictures of Saddam Hussein's palaces.

• Nightmare fuel.

• Mouths and eyebrows signify gender?

• Krugman pwns Reaganomics.
  

• lol:

Collected Thoughts 05-30-09

• Avi Buffalo on Rollingstone.com.

• Pop Hiss has a solid piece on the current state of Michael Jackson affairs. I sat-in on most of the Jackson trial a few years ago, so I've heard most of the names in that piece. I'll be shocked if Michael ever performs one show in London, let alone 50. Michael Jackson is such a big risk that only grandstanders, gambling addicts, profiteers, and madmen would dare try to help him. The only people who could ever save Michael are too smart to even try. This too is grasping for the wind.
  

• Gub'ment Internets Leader

• This is relevant to my interests: Mouse Guard. (yuk yuk) Seriously, it's a paper-and-dice RPG where you play sword-wielding mice. The two-part mission structure is intriguing to me.
  

• Geneticists have made a monkey that gets human diseases. This is okay with me, but I still think that if we're going to engage in morally questionable genetic tinkering, we should go for broke. I want new animals, not cows that make human milk or some boring shit.

• Everyone loves a music video with the words changed to describe the video. This is one of the better ones:

• El oh el. The Wasilla Frontiersman ran an anti-gay op ed, but a gay social networking site's advertisement popped-up on the same page. This is exactly why conservative opposition to a perfectly normal, ordinary sexual alignment is absurd on its face.

• Remember how I wanted a social networking aggregator? Google Wave seems to be the beginning of the answer:
  
  
  
  How does Google continuously make the best "products"? I think part of it is that they are their own target demographic. Everything Google makes (search engines, email clients, blog aggregators, etc) are things that Google requires in order to make those things. These people could use Google Wave in their own everyday office environment, and they are encouraged within their own corporate culture to build a functional office environment in every aspect of their work. Google runs its company as though running the company were developing a program itself. So it makes sense that the programs they develop help run companies particularly well.
  

YOUR EVENING PLANS: Downtown / Union tonight!

Last call, ya'll. Los Angelino readers: come support CGT and (more importantly) your local bands. Fun starts around 9pm.

Classical Geek Theatre presents...

Wednesday, May 27th
Downtown / Union
Shirley Rolls
Manhattan Murder Mystery

Mr. T's Bowl
Highland Park, CA
5621 N Figueroa St
Los Angeles, CA 90042
21+
FREE

The Indianapolis 500 @ Indianapolis Motor Speedway 05-24-09

Pace lap of the 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race.

Going home for The Indianapolis 500 is more important to me than going home for the holidays.

I have seen 19 starts and 17 finishes of the Indy 500. (This was my dad's 47th consecutive.)

• My first race was when I was six years old, in 1989.
• I didn't go in 1991.
• I missed 1996 for a school trip to NYC.
  
• We went on Sunday in 1997 and it was rained-out. We went Monday and the race got started, but then postponed to the next day due to rain. I had school on Tuesday and couldn't see the finish.
  
• In 2004 the race was started on Sunday and then there was rain. My dad and I were certain the rain delay would last until Monday and we were wrong.
  

Open-wheel racing isn't as grotesque as NASCAR. Most fans have their favorite drivers but few are deathly loyal to a team. IndyCar fans are not brand loyal to the sponsors of their favorite teams, either. In fact, sponsorship plays a much smaller role in the league. IndyCar fans are a more diverse bunch; rednecks, math nerds, well-to-dos, and lots of families all attend the race.

Most races in most racing leagues are a one or two week affair. Qualifications will be the first weekend or Saturday and then the race will be the second weekend or Sunday. But teams in Indy practice for a full week, have two weekends of qualifications, and then race on Memorial Weekend. (It is a tradition to skip work or school at least once a year to go hang out at the track.) For a month the town is visited by the same owners, pit crews, and drivers. The Month of May is capitalized in Indianapolis for this reason.

And then there's the pageantry. A parade on Saturday, complete with Z-list and soap opera celebrities. Jim Nabors (Gomer Pyle) and Florence Henderson (Mrs. Brady) sing songs before every Indy 500. The same bands and Scottish pipers march on the track before engines start.

Every year Florence Henderson sings "God Bless America".

There's always a flyover after the national anthem. This year was two vintage B-25 bombers.

Release the balloons!

Jim Nabors sings "Back Home Again in Indiana".

This year we had incredible seats in the Southwest Vista, on the two-row deck. Nobody in front of us and only one row above us. In racing tickets height is valued more than position. The higher you are the more of the track you can see and the easier it is to follow the cars. We could see about 75% of the 2.5 mile track which is unheard of. We saw the end of the main straightway, all of Turn 1, all of Turn 2, the back straightaway, most of Turn 3, and way in the distance we could see Turn 4. Only the bulk of the main straightaway and the 3-4 short chute was obscured. Usually you can only see one turn or most of one straightaway.

The end of the main straightaway, Turn 1, the short-chute, and part of Turn 2.

Turn 2, Turn 4 in the distance. Look at the infield party on the mounds!

Turn 2 and the back straightaway. Turn 3 in the distance.

We had about six Tulsa, OK guys behind us. They brought with them (and shared) honest-to-god Okie BBQ made in Tulsa. (They had quite a time explaining the cooler full of meat to airport security.) Really nice folks. There's a lot of assholes at The Race and it's always good to luck-out with your neighbors.

We lucked out on weather. These days The Race starts at 1pm. Around 12:30pm I could feel the air pressure change and the humidity rise. The major gulf storm pattern went west of us (weather from the gulf in Indy is rare) and the much-discussed "pop-up thunderstorm" never materialized.

Helio Castroneves won his third Indy 500, a feat only eight others have accomplished. I love Helio. He's a great driver, has a lovable personality, and he's a great winner. Helio will be near tears one moment and then laughing like a child the next. He's a very emotional winner, but a very disciplined driver. This spring he was charged with tax evasion and until a month ago it was possible he could have been in prison. He was acquitted just in time to race. His win on Sunday was not only a victory, it was vindication. Every Indy 500 winner has a story and this was a good one.

Helio Castroneves leads teammate Ryan Briscoe.

Helio wins!

Victory lap.

The Race as a whole wasn't my favorite. It had the second-fewest lead changes since 1965. Nearly everyone was able to take every pit stop on a yellow flag so there was little pit drama or lineup shuffling. Helio ran away with it the last 20 laps; there was no endgame drama. (Danica Patrick's car was running great, though. If Vitor Meira hadn't have crashed [giving Helio the yellow flag pitstop he needed] and if Dan Weldon hadn't been racing for 2nd place, Danica could have given Helio a run for his money.)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

I never offered my thoughts on X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

• The problem with the flick is that it never deals with "the mutant problem". In the Singer films, and even in Ratner's X3 (which I liked more than most), there are always politicians, law enforcement, and military looking to get those pesky mutants. In X2, when Pyro blows-up a cop car, it's a problem. But in Wolverine the mutants just use their powers without pause, and they do so without ever considering the consequences of their actions, to society or to themselves.

• For the character Wolverine this should have been a film about coming to terms with being a mutant. It wasn't.

• I was surprised with how faithful the Team X / Weapon X stuff was to the source material, but what I really missed was the torture and brainwashing aspects of the program. In the first three films we get a lot about how tortured Wolverine must have been when he went through the Weapon X program, but we don't see too much of that here.

• The design of Stryker's lab and the events that actually take place break continuity with the flashback scenes in X2. In X2 we see men in gas masks, Wolverine covered in his own blood screaming, and Wolverine escaping through a sewer tunnel. Where were those scenes? And if I'm making a prequel, before the script is even finished, the first thing I do is get my design team on the task of recreating the old sets. "Well, we can't start making costumes 'til we have a cast, but we know we have to re-build that lab!" Why couldn't they get that right?

• In the film, Team X begins hunting mutants for Stryker's Weapon X program after Wolverine has left the team. They should have been hunting mutants for the program while Wolverine was on the team, and uncovering the questionable ethics behind Team X should have been what caused Wolverine to leave. The second act should have been Team X bringing Wolverine in, and act three should have been Wolverine assisting in the prison outbreak.

• My childhood was raped with the portrayal of Deadpool.
  

• The inclusion of Gambit was wasteful, though I've never liked the character much anyway outside of a romantic foil for Rogue. If Gambit was to ever be included in the X-Men films, it needed to involve the X-Men suspecting him of betraying the team from within. That's his only interesting story arc.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was not horrible. Liev Schreiber is quite good as Sabretooth and Hugh Jackman is always great. I thought including Cyclops and Professor X would be hamfisted, but the cameos worked.

Still, the overwhelming feeling I got from the film was "What a waste". Fox had on its hands one of the best-handled comic book franchises in film history and the last two entries have been rushed into production with no regard for the fans' feelings, the casual viewer's self-respect, the integrity of the source material, or the integrity of their own company. Can't Marvel get the X-Men rights back already?

Collected Thoughts 5-26-09

• Jay Bennett died. I hate disingenuous eulogies. The truth is that while I like Wilco -- hey, I even think "Yeah! Wilco is great!" -- I never got into Wilco. That is to say, if I made a 20 song soundtrack of my life, there wouldn't be any Wilco on it. So, um, that sucks that he died?

• Buzzbands has the scoop on "Also I Like to Rock". I will be there July 23rd for Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros (since I never made it to their three show residency this month) and, more importantly, Eskimohunter. (!!!)

• Biking LA.

• Photo nerdity.

• Say goodbye to your free time.
  

• Google knows who is most likely to leave the company. The Singularity is near!

• Morbius in Spider-Man 4? I would love that.
  

• On my flight back from Indianapolis last night I began reading really interesting book called Legacy of Ashes that details the historical ineptitude of the CIA. But soon it became dark, the cabin lights dimmed, and the two people sitting next to me began to doze off. My middle-seat "reading light" illuminated the entire row and might disturb my neighbors' sleep. It seemed rude to read the book.
  
  Ah! But I had books on my iPhone and the backlit screen's soft light barely illuminated my own face. The digital form was both more convenient and more considerate. My hardcover book was heavy, consumed space, and was made of precious trees; my iPhone was light and consumed the same resources (material and battery power) regardless of how many books it contained. The digital form was certainly more efficient.

• Another common argument for the pro-print lobby is that quality writing and "serious" reporting is only possible in the print industry. This is silly.
  
  For one, "serious" reporting by blogs becomes more common all the time. If newspapers should fall there will be a demand for that sort of reporting, there will be philanthropic investors, and there will be a market reaction that will provide that sort of reporting in a digital medium. It's not happening now because it doesn't have to yet. Transition period, etc.
  
  I also would suggest that few of our most treasured pieces of writing and literature were profitable when they were written. How much money did the founding fathers make off of the federalist papers, some of the finest political philosophy ever written? Were Edgar Allen Poe's poems widely distributed at the time of his death? I would wager that more than half of our greatest writings were written with passion put before profit.
  
  Without the publisher-newspaper industrial complex it will be harder for writers to make their careers writing. This is not too awful. Some great writers may not have the will to work a different job and write, but those who do will likely be our very best, our most sincere and driven writers.
  
  At the end of the day, communication is a function of the species. People will write. Once the digital medium is wholly ubiquitous it will give more people a more equal shot at having their ideas change the world. The most committed, the most driven, those who believe the most that they have something worth saying, will be the ones whose ideas break through regardless of the economic structure that surrounds written communication. And those will be the people to whom we should pay notice. What's an idea if it only flies when it's paid for?
  

• Here's an interesting read on gender stereotypes and workplace politics. The moneyquote:
  
  "Men have worked as essentially shop keepers and store clerks for a lot longer than they have worked on assembly lines. There have been waiters forever. Lawyers are the world's second oldest profession. Teaching was a male-only profession for centuries. The idea that men are and ought to be unreflective, grunting, two-fisted louts good with their hands but not so much with their hearts and their heads is a class thing not a gender thing and it is imposed upon working class men by a system that needs them to be beasts of burden.

  Men who reject certain values and behaviors as "sissy" or "girlie" are rejecting success, and don't think their bosses aren't grateful."

• Regarding the Prop 8 ruling: A lot of folks don't seem to grasp the legal nuances of the ruling. This same state supreme court is the only high court in the land to elevate sexual orientation to the same level as gender and race in regards to discrimination cases. This same supreme court said that Prop 22 was anti-constitutional, allowing for gay marriage in the first place. This same supreme court said that the existing thousands of gay marriages are to be upheld. The California Supreme Court is not discriminatory on the basis of sexual orientation.
  
  How can they uphold Prop 8 then? Because it isn't the court's job to overturn amendments to state constitutions made by citizens. It'd be nice and easy if they would, but that's not the supreme court's mandate. What they've really done is say that the people of the state of California have a right to define "marriage" as they see fit. This is entirely different from saying the people of the state of California have a right to deny same-sex couples equal rights.
  
  The court essentially said this: "A revision to the state constitution would have required the legislature. This was merely an amendment. In other words, this has so little legal effect on the literal rights of those couples that the legislature wasn't needed." The California Supreme Court effectively ruled that Prop 8 is very, very weak code and that any attempt to use it to deny rights to same-sex couples, beyond the terminology "marriage," won't hold legal water. That's a huge upside for same-sex couples.
  
  I think any law that makes "separate but equal" unions for couples is bigotry. I voted against Prop 8 and was heartbroken when it passed. But I also think the California Supreme Court made a legally and constitutionally sound ruling. It's up to us, the people, to make our state fair. And we'll get a chance in the next year or two. In the long run, democratically-granted same sex marriage is stronger and less divisive than court-ordered anyway.
  

Downtown / Union on Ten Minutes With Andrew and J.J.

Downtown / Union in the Ten Minutes with Andrew and J.J. studio.

Los Angeles rockers Downtown / Union recently paid a visit to Ten Minutes with Andrew and J.J., a new-ish talk format podcast based in Los Angeles that I recommend you make a habit of listening to. (Short, sweet, and hysterical.) You can listen to Downtown /Union's visit here. The band was promoting their recent record... and our upcoming show.

How upcoming? Try tomorrow! Just come. Three of the best bands in town will be playing in one of LA's best-kept open secrets. Mr. T's Bowl is where dreams are made into memories and memories are made into legendary half-remembered dreams. (In other words, "Cheap drinks!')

Classical Geek Theatre presents...

Wednesday, May 27th
Downtown / Union
Shirley Rolls
Manhattan Murder Mystery

Mr. T's Bowl
Highland Park, CA
5621 N Figueroa St
Los Angeles, CA 90042
21+
FREE

Avi Buffalo @ The Echo 05-19-09

Avi Buffalo @ The Echo 05-19-09

Last Tuesday, though disgruntled and bitter, I shlepped myself to The Echo for the Avi Buffalo residency. I was in no mood for music but I nearly was by the time I left. The young band surprised me, expanding their sound and jamming out for a good half of their short set. "What's In It For?" and "Summer Cum," the two best and catchiest songs on their recent release, were not to be heard. That left me only wanting more, and I shall seek satisfaction and fulfillment tonight.

You should too. It's the last chance to catch them at this free residency. Be there or lose big. (And the merits of Divisadero should not need to be explained to you.)

TONIGHT! Tuesday, May 26th
Avi Buffalo
Greater California
Divisidero
The Reporter Who Became King

The Echo
1822 Sunset Blvd.
Echo Park, CA 90026
21+ FREE
All Ages $7

Collected Thoughts 05-22-09

• Getting in an airplane early tomorrow. I'll be experiencing an absurdity: fly from LA to Charlotte, then back to Indianapolis. It should not be cheaper for me to fly to the west coast to the east coast and back to the midwest than simply from the west coast to the midwest. Sigh.

• Amazon wants to take all of the risk out of short-buy CD manufacturing. The catch? The artist can't stock up on the CDs; they could only be purchased on Amazon. Ridiculous. Why not just buy the MP3?

• We use robots in warfare daily.

• We're all fucked. This thing is man-opperated, but I am sure in ten years it won't be. Behold the mighty Engine of Death:

• New Henry Clay People song:

• We Listen For You turned me onto this great video by a Portland band called The Mint Chicks.

Light in the Attic Records goes on a label tour!

I almost never do "press release" posts but I'm going to here. Let me say only that Light in the Attic's online press person is one of nicest people I deal with as a blogger and their label's good-to-bad-stuff ratio is better than any other label I receive material from with the exception of Dangerbird. I love the LITA folks.

I think the idea of an indie label tour where the label owners personally push their stuff in the store is a killer idea. Los Angelinos, May 25th at Origami Vinyl or Don's Music is your marching orders.

Starting May 18th, the LITA elite team will visit over 50 indie record stores in 10 days, covering 3000 miles, blogging and twittering the whole way

In this digital age, Light In The Attic is kickin’ it analog, loading up the van with their deep catalog, stacks of wax, rarities, and whatever else they find in the warehouse. LITA is sending their A-Team of hustlers down the West Coast to San Diego and back (with nothing more that a few cases of RedBull and a stack of Arby’s gift certificates), on a mission to connect directly with the intrepid indie retailers that make the wheels of commerce turn. They’ll be hawking their wares direct and showing the love – and without shipping costs!

The team will be headed up by LITA music licensing guru / Black Daisy bassist Sandy Wilson, and filled out with bandmates Troy Nelson (KEXP DJ), and Cody Hurd, along with friend Tyson Pickerel. The quartet produced the above teaser video, showing the ways in which their fateful journey came to be, which can be watched here:

[The Team] will be documenting daily events via the label’s blog, Twitter, and video. The footage shot will eventually be posted on the LITA homepage as well as on a number of key blogs. It's a truly old-school way of doing business, and the cornerstone of how they operate - direct relationships with the people who keep their ship afloat. No label has done this in years, possibly decades, and is the pinnacle vision of Light In The Attic.


List of Stopping Points / Stores:

5/22 Down Home Music - El Cerrito
5/22 Mod Lang - El Cerrito
5/22 Aquarius Records - San Francisco
5/23 Rasputin's - San Francisco
5/23 The Groove Merchant - San Francisco
5/23 Streetlight Records - Santa Cruz
5/23 Metamusic - Santa Cruz
5/24 Boo Boo Records - San Louis Obispo
5/24 Buffalo Records - Ventura
5/24 Salzers - Ventura
5/24 CD Trader - Tarzana
5/25 Freakbeat Records - Sherman Oaks
5/25 Don's Music - Los Angeles
5/25 Amoeba Music - Los Angeles
5/25 Vacation Records - Los Angeles
5/25 Origami Vinyl - Los Angeles
5/25 Rockaway Records - Los Angeles
5/26 Fingerprints - Long Beach
5/26 Lou's Records - Encinitas
5/26 Music Trader - San Diego
5/26 Thirsty Moon Records - San Diego
5/26 Record City - San Diego
5/26 M Theory - San Diego
5/27 Rhino Records - Claremont
5/27 Poo Bah Records - Pasadena
5/28 R5 Records - Sacramento
5/28 Time Tested Books - Sacramento
5/28 Records - Sacramento
5/28 The Beat - Sacramento
5/29 Arrival Light In The Attic HQ - Seattle

Skid Row Karaoke by Scott Schultz

photo by Scott Schultz for L.A. RECORD

LA rock photog Scott Schultz has recently put shooting shows on hold to focus on his Skid Row Karaoke photo essay for L.A. Record. While hipsters are crowding eastside clubs to sip $7 drinks and look disinterested, LA's poor and homeless are gathering to sing and dance together.

Well, The Huffington Post picked up on the project and had Schultz on their talk format streaming radio show.

I'm not in the habit of promoting or congratulating New England Patriots fans, but it's always great when a local guy or gal in the LA music scene gets a break. Check out those links. HuffPo should also be running some of the photos some time in the next week.

Save the Date: CGT presents Downtown / Union at Mr. T's Bowl on 05/27/09

Ho there, Classical Geek Thespians! The fine folks in Downtown / Union have been puttin' on a residency at Mr. T's Bowl and when I saw the lineup for the May 27th show I asked if I could help-out. As if D/U doesn't have enough underground hero band cred as it is, they've brought-on CGT favorites Manhattan Murder Mystery and Shirley Rolls to join in the fun. This bill is nothing but high fives.

Come hang-out in a half-dead bowling alley with us. It will be the best show of the week. I promise.

Classical Geek Theatre presents...

Wednesday, May 27th
Downtown / Union
Shirley Rolls
Manhattan Murder Mystery

Mr. T's Bowl
Highland Park, CA
5621 N Figueroa St
Los Angeles, CA 90042
21+
FREE

One Trick Pony - "Phonebook" video

Los Angeles' One Trick Pony just released this gorgeous music video for their soul-seeped song "Phone Book".

Randolph Williams III (OTP's singer), Simon Cardoza (LA-based photog / director), and Christian Biel (Transmissions singer/guitarist, Castle Asshole co-creator) all collaborated to create the visual feast. Well edited, I thought.

DOWNLOAD: The Meeting Places - "Millions"

Los Angeles shoegazers The Meeting Places sent me this gorgeous track last week. On "Millions" The Meeting Places manage to take the listener on a blissed-out, crystalline sleep-spiral without celebrating themselves too much.

But you don't have to take my word for it.

[MP3 DOWNLOAD] - The Meeting Places - "Millions"

Castle Asshole

I've been loving the hell out of Castle Asshole, an absurdist comedy webseries produced in Los Feliz. I don't want to spoil it... but the three episodes include Dario Argento-styled gore, David Lynch-style editing, and a healthy dose of irreverent adult content. Adult Swim hasdn't had anything this good since 2004.

Watch all three episodes. It doesn't get any less strange. Claps and whistles!

Castle Asshole Ep: 0 "Dance Demon Dance" -

Collected Thoughts 05-19-09

• The Roxy has a show coming up called "Radio Disney Presents KSM". Apparently KSM is a rock group for kids? Well, it's also cable news / blogger shorthand for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect of the 9/11 attacks. I saw the listing in my email and something like this crossed my mind:
  
  "Radio Disney Presents Khalid Sheikh Mohammed! When a filthy Muslim terrorist infiltrates Disney World and plans to crash Peter Pan's flying pirate ship into the Epcot Center, the U.S. government's special WASP division, assembling the world's hottest tween rock superstars, steps into action! Behold the nonstop antics, hijinks, and he-said-she-said romances that bring KSM to glamorous justice!"

• Relevant 2 My Interests has the newest, bestest version of the Nigerian Prince scam. Somewhere I have one saved from a 12 year old Nigerian boy who'd written a screenplay about the Nigerian soccer team beating a team of vampires in the World Cup. He was seeking money to put the script into production. He wanted the money sent encased in a Playstation 3.

• New Weezer this summer? I wish I could be a wise old man and not get my hopes up, but let's be real, I'm excited. Really guys, Rivers is a genius! This time will be different!

• lol

• Pretty Monolators video:

(Amateurs) w/ The World Record and Death to Anders @ Spaceland 05-15-09

Amateurs celebrated the release of their new three song vinyl EP If We Dare Win this past Friday. Unfortunately I was not well and did not stay for their set, but I heard it was terrific and I really love the new EP. I'm not sure where to buy nationwide, but in Los Angeles you can find it at Origami Vinyl. The vinyl EP comes with a download card for digital kids like me.


Death to Anders played their last show for a while. The band is taking a break over the summer to tend to various individual needs. Expect the countrified freak rock machinery to start clanking again some time in August.

Their set was mellow without being sluggish. The newer tunes like "Anne Marie" and "Handshakes and Earthquakes" have really come into their own, and these days Death to Anders is channeling Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds more than Pavement or Sonic Youth.



The World Record is one of the ten best bands in LA and every time I hear them play "Serious" I want to cry tears of joy.

Eagle and Talon - "Ice Life" video; appearance on Beverly Hills 90210

I love Eagle and Talon's new music video for "Ice Life". The video, directed by Max Goldblatt (MGMT, Obi Best), reminds me of the lo-fi styled videos of 90's alternative rock. It is seldom that I wish I were a woman. This video makes me wish I were either / both Alice and Kim Talon. How cool do they look disaffectedly singing into that mirror?

The art rock duo was also recently on Beverly Hills 90210. That's the strangest Echo Park / Silverlake coup in a while. (Division Day also got a mention on the show, once. Sounds like the scene has a fan in the licensing department at Fox, eh?)

You can buy Eagle and Talon's full-length album Thracian on iTunes.

Collected Thoughts 05-18-09

• CGT still has a myspace page, but I deleted my personal page. It was liberating.

• What prompted this? Myspace added an IM feature. Ugh. I hate IM features on networking sites. I enjoy the freedom to respond to people at the time of my choosing! The Facebook IM is a constant bane. 75% of all IMs are from people who are bored and want you to say something that will entertain them. I am too busy for that!
  
  Besides that, I think myspace is misguided in adding the feature. Facebook is a much more elegant networking tool; Myspace is better suited for distributing digital content in a social environment. (Photos, streaming music, videos, etc.) Myspace doesn't need a chat client. It needs a streamlined search function to find all kinds of socially networked content based on user-defined terms.
  

• Here's an idea for a savvy software developer: social networking needs a Trillian. I want a social networking aggregator.
  
  The program I am imagining signs-in to all of my social networking tools (Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, etc) and then I tell it, per each user on each service I network with, where to sort the different kinds of messages. So band myspace bulletins, band tweets, band IMs, band messages all from all the services go in one box; messages and tweets from personal friends go in another; business contacts in another; entertainment feeds in another, etc.
  
  Right now, with only a couple exceptions, I don't follow bands on Twitter. The reason is because I want my twitter feed to be managable and the content I most care about is stuff from actual friends. But if I could somehow sort the twitter feeds of other users to a separate bin, I would follow bands and commercial interest. And how much better if that same bin could include myspace bulletins, etc?

• Drugs are bad, mmkay?
  

• There seems to be a contrived "Airborne Toxic Event vs. Silversun Pickups" debate that argues the later has somehow achieved fame the "legitimate" way and the former has not. Of course, the whole notion of considering one band against the other is silly. But lest some remain delusional, I'd like to point you to this Walmart / Axe bodyspray / SSPU collaboration. I don't believe in "selling out;" I believe in musicians wanting to have careers. But if you think there is a "selling out" sin then that ought to have SSPU covered, no?
  
  For my own part, I think exposing the Walmart crowd to SSPU is awesome. And the video at that link is really, really well-produced. They got the band to say interesting things about their music. Local video interviewers? Walmart should not be outdoing you.

• I don't know much about photographer Emma Kathan, but I love the few photo samples on her website. Kathan's first solo exhibit in Los Angeles will be at Pehrspace June 13th - July 4th. The launch party is June 13th at Pehr. Gonna try to go. Join me?
  

• Mad Max 4, directed by George Miller and starring a new unnamed lead actor, will soon begin production. Oh hell, why not.

• I am over the moon with the Thor casting.
  

• Peter King thinks the Colts will be just fine.
  

• The headline reads "'Angel Farrah Fawcett Crosses the Final Frontier of Reality Television".
  
  Farrah Fawcet taped her death for television broadcast.
  
  Is there any news item in the last five years more horrifying, inspiring, tragic, and triumphant all at the same time? We are a storytelling species and one storyteller decided to tell the true story of her death. It's both disgusting media garbage and brilliant performance art. I find the story very moving. And cyberpunkarific.
  

• Some time back I mentioned that I knew Roger Friedman, the columnist Fox fired for reviewing a pirated a copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. (Fired for hyping on the internet a movie that the internet was mocking. What a joke.) Anyways, Roger got a better gig.
  

• Last night my 4th ed Dungeons and Dragons character (Manjo Drogo, Tremontane Traveler of the Abyss) died. It's really hard to get a PC to die in 4th ed. I had to do something profoundly stupid, which I have been known to do.
  
  Manjo Drogo was a halfling warlock with all kinds of cosmos-traveling, Lovecraftian horror plot lines. So he "returned" as a halfling-sized warforged warlock with new horrific powers. In effect, The Nameless Dark Ones animated Drogo's skeleton (Which was apparently mechanized copper. Who knew?!), he shed his dead flesh husk, and now Nyog Thul-kreen (Drogo's true Abysmal Name) continues his nefarious schemes of bringing chaos and doom upon the good people of the land with renewed purpose.
  
  Our sinister villains were last seen jumping into a dimensional portal. We're semi-retiring the 4th ed campaign so I can run a propper 2nd edition game set in Greyhawk. I am very stoked for this.
  

Collected Thoughts 05-17-09

• I want to one more time apologize for the lack of posting and communications on the CGT front. I had to flake-out on some shows I agreed to cover. Some of you have written really nice emails or sent music and I've not been able to directly respond as much as I'd like. (Great timing right after The Jonas Brothers granted me a whole new audience to neglect.)
  
  Anyways, one more shitty week and things should be back to norm.

• I can not stop playing No Limit Texas Hold 'Em on Facebook. Ever since my two pair lost to a full house four times in one night, I have become obsessed with learning "Why?" I'm not spending money; Facebook poker is free. But I am losing a lot of time.
  

• This weekend I'm going back to Naptown for the Indy 500. I love open-wheel auto racing. (That is the opposite of NASCAR, neophytes.) There is nothing like the start of The Indianapolis 500 on a gorgeous May afternoon. The smells, the sounds, the sights, the excitement...
  
  One of my favorite things about The Race is how spectators must rely on each other to follow the race. The track is 2.5 miles long. There is no seat in the house where you can watch the entire race. A big part of being a spectator is gathering information on what is happening / has happened. You can watch your 1/3 of the track. There are giant screens that show the lead action. There's the leader boards that are often about 20 seconds or so behind. Many people will listen to the AM broadcast, which is usually where the information comes out first. If you are seated in front of the pits, that can tell you something.
  
  Everyone shares info. When somebody crashes, someone in your area will be listening to the radio and will be the first to belt-out "Andretti hit the wall!" But a passing engine drowns him out maybe, so word gets spread by mouth. It's an exhilarating, communal way to watch a sporting even. It's the best.
  

• Adam Carolla was on Loveline all week last week. Have I mentioned how much I love Loveline before? Dr. Drew is one of my favorite radio personalities. He just makes sense more than anybody else with that kind of national exposure. His batting average as a sex commentator beats the shit out of the batting averages of the very best news, sports, and entertainment talking heads.
  
  As a person who has in his posession a level head, the subject matter of Loveline bears little relevance to me. I don't relate with the drooling, slack-jawed demihumans who need to be told that masturbation won't make them blind. But I like hearing Drew disseminate some rationality to the unwashed masses.
  
  Anyways, Adam Carolla's guest appearances reminded me how much better the show has been since he'd left. What a meat-headed goon. (You will not be surprised to learn that Carolla spends all the money he makes being a public asshole on sports cars.) His existence grants the universe no advantage.
  
  Stryker's positivity made for a much better, more rewarding listen. I guess Westwood One recently cut Stryker from the show. What a fucking bummer. Radio sucks.

• Speaking of "radio sucks," god do I miss Indie 103.1.
  

• Star 98.7 plays better music than KROQ, btw. (If you like indie rock then this is akin to stating a preference of herpes to chlamydia.) You still have to tolerate awful garbage like Papa Roach and Incubus, but there's more "mainstream indie" and at least the filler is stuff like The Clash and The Violent Femmes instead of old Nirvana and STP. Loveline and (of course) Locals Only are the only things that keeps Kay-ro-cue elevated above Star.

• Paste Magazine is near-death. Can I be an asshole? Good! There is no reason whatsoever to continue to have music print publications.
  
  Most people get their music from mainstream sources. Those who do dig for their music also read blogs, are computer savvy, and could read Paste online anyway. With iPhones and devices like the Kindle DX on the rise, the notion of a paper magazine is just silly. It's a waste of trees, a waste of shipping costs, a waste of money, and a waste of time.
  
  In five years(or less) barber shops and doctors offices can have digital tablets with every magazine you'd want downloaded onto them.
  
  Paste's sampler CDs? A pain in the ass. I have to take it out of its wasteful cardboard sleeve, put it in my machine, import it, then add it to my digital device. Ugh. How much cooler would it be if I could go to Paste.com, read the site, and listen to the sampler music on my iPhone?
  
  "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture" is less true in a multimedia digital format where directly-linked audio clips provide a context.
  

• Old street gang calling cards. Bands should ape these for fliers or EP covers.

• I loved this interview that Jeff Weiss did.

• The Colts' offensive coordinator and offensive line coach are retiring. That means new head coach, def coordinator, offensive coordinator, QB coach, receivers coach, and offensive line coach. I was previously saying "12-4, miss the playoffs". Now I think "10-6, at best".

• Keytar + Indianapolis Colts = FTW:
  
  
  
  (thx MOKB)
  

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' live concert. Holy moly:
  

• 7 sent to hospital after office kitchen stink induces vomiting.
  

The Monolators w/ Halloween Swim Team, Gumshoe, and Roman Candles @ Echo Curio 05-04-09

Meatworld obstacles have prevented me from commenting on The Monolator's EP release show earlier this month. Late better than never.


I lurve me some Roman Candles. The guys were especially amusing on this night. "Show Me the Way to Go Home" really should be in "song of the year" discussions if for no other reason that it attaches itself to your brain like a leech. I *still* have it stuck in my head.

Roman Candles booking their own summer tour and it seems they have some schedule gaps, so check that myspace page and help 'em out if you can.



Gumshoe was not on my radar at all. She ought to be on yours. The act is a homegrown version of the R&B-by-way-of-electronica that has been tickling ears for the past couple years. Rock Insider says it better and has some downloads.

Their live show on this evening consisted of a CD player playing the beats while Devin Montgomery sang with a candy-like voice and danced with two backup dancers. There was a lot of stop-start during the set and by most metrics it wasn't great entertainment, but the underlying work was curious enough to warrant praise. A backing band, a tighter live show, and they're onto something.



Halloween Swim Team is a weird band. I really like their stuff much in the same way I like modern art where I don't really understand the intent of the artist. It might be above my head. Three guys man five synths / keys and a laptop. Blurpy noises and shouted vocals. Their off-putting sound cleared the room, but the people who stayed are the people whom you might want to learn about music from.






The new five-piece Monolators lineup sounds great and I strongly prefer the Ruby I'm Changing My Number material to the Don't Dance songs. Eli Monolator and company seem to be channeling Mr. Costello these days, albeit in a punkier fashion, even if less punky than previous incarnations of The Monolators. New lead guitarist Ray Gurrola adds some much-needed enthusiasm to one of Echo Park / Silverlake's most venerable acts though, and if you'd lost interest in The Monolators over the years now would be a good time to start paying attention again.

Collected Thoughts 05-12-09

• Here's an underdog pick for Wednesday night: Mumiy Troll at The Roxy. They've been jailed for playing rock music in Soviet Russia. Unbreakable Rule for Rock Show Nerds: When presented with the chance to see a funny-named Russian band playing in The States, you go.

• I'm really sorry about the inactivity on CGT. Without my car I've had to borrow one from a friend to go to my part time job, and that involves picking them up at work in Santa Monica at 10:30pm most nights.When I've not had to drive to Santa Monica, the prospect of four figures of work on my car has kept me from wanting to spend $5 on a beer.
  

• I promise, more thoughts later, but... Wolverine was teh suck, Star Trek was teh ossum.
  

• Hayden Christensen and Liv Tyler as Case and Molly in the Neuromancer film?! God, I want to throw up.

• The Atlantic makes the case for fanboy summer movies. Great piece.

• Post-punk nerdity from Henry Rollins.

• Comic sans walks into a bar, and the bartender says "I'm sorry, we don't serve your type here."

• Here's some ancient Jay-Z:

Collected Thoughts 05-08-09

• This was supposed to be a pretty active week for CGT. Then Petey's engine started misfiring pistons. $515+ later and we're "still figuring it out". That tax return was nice for the two days I knew her.

• Praise be to Mitra! Brett Ratner is off of Conan!!! This is the best news in a year.

• The Mae Shi's "Lamb and the Lion" video is great. War elephants!

• Ron Artest getting tossed because Kobe Bryan elbowed him reminded me of the time Reggie Miller got ejected for taking a punch from Michael Jordan. (I was at that game.) As a Pacer fan, I know all too well the limitless bullshit of Ronnie Artest, but that was another classic example of how the officiating the NBA is bonkers.

• Virgin brand nonsense.
  

• Time travel as the Star Trek universe sees it.

• Incidentally, the "fulfilling the past / it always happened that way" style of timeline (as opposed to the "you can change your destiny" style of the first two Terminator movies) is what Lost seems to be running with, and it is my favorite kind of time travel story.

• Related to lost: Relevant 2 My Interests has a great breakdown of the absurdity of "The Others" on Lost.
  

• Cyberpunkariffic.

• Waterboarding in Life Magazine... in 1902.
  

Collected Thoughts 05-06-09

• I'm more of a music geek than anything. I only have a small clue as to how the business end of music works, and that clue is basically this: "the manager matters". That's all I know.
  
  Marketing? I know a thing or two about trends toward new media, but that's it. I know that the key to marketing a band these days is to have a constant broadcast, to always be leaking a new track or remix or video. The most popular blogs don't actually write about music, but post exclusive MP3s with the same basic press info that everyone else has. The "big" blogs are basically press release stations; they aren't music critics. But beyond that, I'm never surprised to see my wisdom on the matter of marketing consistently fail.
  
  Case in point: the new, well-crafted, DJ Caruso-directed video for "Sometime Around Midnight". My thought was that the song was played-out, that everyone who is going to like that song already likes it, and that any more energy spent on that single would just make people sick of it. Hell, they've played it on every late night talk show at least once and I'm thinking they even played it on one of the talk shows twice. I figured you'd want to release a video for "Missy" or one of the other rock-oriented tracks to try to hook new listeners who aren't drawn to "Sometime Around Midnight" but might be drawn to the indie rock sounds of the band.
  
  What do I know? If you read those youtube comments you read about a bunch of people who are still finding The Airborne Toxic Event for the first time, or existing fans who are happy to have a new video for the same 14 month-old single.

• Last night. $70 on the table, I have $65 of it. My opponent is drunk and I am tired, but perfectly sober. Three times in about 40 hands he beats my very, very good two-pair with a full house. I only went in for $10, but I put the other guys at the table out myself. Maddening.

• Earlier in the day yesterday I watched "The City on the Edge of Forever," widely regarded as one of the best Star Trek (TOS) episodes. Harlan Ellison wrote it. (Can you imagine if William Gibson and Warren Ellis were routinely writing episodes of Lost or Heroes?) Well, technically, the staff re-wrote Ellison's script into something that wags a finger at Vietnam protests. But it's still a great piece of television drama, a great piece of science fiction, and I wish more of today's best science fiction writers were writing TV more often. (With a tip of the hat to Michael J. Straczynski and Brian K. Vaughan.)

• The Onion will no longer appear in print in LA or SF.

• Who watches the watchmen? Apparently somebody!

• We're all eating a lot of sugar.

• *sigh*

• Personally, I'm disappointed that a constitutional law professor president (whom I donated to on three occasions) has not supported due process for people who have been accused of torture. The UN Convention Against Torture *signed by President Reagan, who abhorred torture) says that if a report such as the Red Cross report is filed, we are obligated by international and American law to investigate prosecute. U.S. Federal Code is explicitly clear, we are obligated to investigate and prosecute. Perhaps AG Holder is being patient and working diligently.
  
  The FBI refused to torture. They took a stand and pulled their guy from interrogations. All branches of the U.S. military either recommended that this was torture or were at least apprehensive. There was time for internal discussions, so Jack Baur-style ticking timebomb scenario hogwash can be discarded at this time. We know this was planned policy.
  
  In Fantasy Mouse Land, where America is a country of laws and not a banana republic... the CIA interrogators, the lawyers, and whoever ordered those memos written (be it the former Sec Def, former VP, or former president) would be prosecuted. The person who ordered the memos would be imprisoned for life, the persons who wrote the memos would be imprisoned for 20 years, and the interrogators would be given due process, found guilty, and then given a pardon by the president because they followed orders.
  
  That's not the political reality. The political reality is that we don't torture any more, and while we should get to the bottom of things, a non-criminal investigation is probably all we're going to get. (This infuriates me. The Bush clowns cut their teeth in the secretive, paranoid Nixon admin. If we don't prosecute then Cheney and Gonzalez' pupils will just torture again when their guys get back in power in 4, 8, or 12 years)
  
  But understanding the political realities, and knowing that putting my own personal feeling that "the law is the law" aside, and admitting that my own emotional feelings about human rights abuse are passionate and could cloud my opinion on the matter, I find it preposterous that the lawyers who wrote those memos aren't disbarred.
  
  I understand our leaders in power want to save political capital for the healthcare battle. But a little fucking political will to make sure these assholes never influence the law of the land again seems to be the least they could fucking do.
  
  This, to me, is not a matter of political retribution. History will give me all the political retribution I require. This is a matter of shame, and maintaining some semblance of moral superiority and national pride.
  

YOUR EVENING PLANS: Avi Buffalo Residency Begins Tonight!

Normally I only promote shows I can attend myself. I have an immovable conflict tonight, but this is too important to not plug. Avi Buffalo has a special Tuesday night all-ages April residency at The Echo that begins tonight. You should make it your business to go.

I first saw Avi Buffalo a little over a year ago at Mr. T's Bowl. I've seen them four times since, and while I was blown away at the first taste, this band just continues to get better with age. The songwriting is painfully good and their ear for a pleasing sound is delight to a degree of torture.

Their debut release Dr. Cornejo (named after Buffalo's high school principal) will be available for the first time tonight. It is currently leading the pack as my favorite album of 2009. Aside from the stellar live sound, you should go to The Echo tonight if for no other reason than you want to have your stubby fingers on these recordings as soon as possible.

And the supporting bill ain't too shabby.

TONIGHT! Tuesday, May 5th
Avi Buffalo
60 Watt Kid
Deep Sea Diver
Time Of Wolves
Tenlons Fort

The Echo
1822 Sunset Blvd.
Echo Park, CA 90026
21+ FREE
All Ages $7

ALBUM REVIEW - Double Dagger - "More"

Who asked for a great hardcore record in 2009?

Well, we're getting one.

Double Dagger has spent the better part of the decade touring basement clubs nation-wide and invigorating fans in their hometown of Baltimore, MD. Their new record More is genre genocide, not blurring the lines between hardcore, punk, post-punk, and noisepop so much as ignoring them outright. It is both melodic and exhilarating, and fresh, as though loud-quiet-loud has never been done before.

The minimalist trio recorded More in the abandoned upper floors of a condemned office building. Extension chords ran out the windows to power the gear. Holes were punched in the walls and ceiling at the band's whim, whatever it took to capture Double Dagger's elusive live sound. Hardcore is DIY by definition and has always leaned towards the intensely personal, but never before has it sounded so intimate.

Lyrically, More is closer to film narration than scrawled diary entries. And Double Dagger doesn't deploy a guitar player. Bass, drums, vox. That's it.

More kicks off with "No Allies," a suckerpunch noisepunk track that hits the Pitchfork paradigm for rock in the heart. After a few detours through ambient noise and pure hardcore, the album hits its stride on the whimsically rhythmed track "Camoflauge," which showcases both Bruce Willen's wicked basswork and Nolan Stral's captivating sing-song vocal delivery. Following that is "The Lie/The Truth," More's centerpiece. It encapsulates the spirit of Double Dagger perfectly, offering thoughtful lyrics, a melodic bassline, crashing cymbals and loud-quite-loud bliss.

The final five tracks are gravy on the taters. More is a complete, satisfying meal that still begs for... well, more. The energy on this record is palatable, and not just during the noisy parts. You'll be playing this one again and again.

[DOWNLOAD MP3] - Double Dagger - "The Lie/The Truth"


"More" is released today on Thrill Jockey Records and is available on iTunes. Double Dagger will play Pehrspace in Los Angeles on June 29th.

Set Above the Rest April 2009

Coachella created an abnormal influx of incredible music I witnessed in April, so I'm expanding Set Above the Rest to fifteen for the month. Truly, number 15 would have been Top 3 in any average month. I could have easily done a top 20 and included a few Fiend Folio sets, too.

Mike Watt and the Missing Men not only top my April list, but were the best show I've seen all year.

1. Mike Watt and the Missingmen@ Spaceland 04-06-09 (review)
   
2. Leonard Cohen @ Coachella 04-16-09 (review)
   
3. Paul McCartney @ Coachella 04-16-09 (review)
4. My Bloody Valentine @ Coachella 04-18-09 (review)
   
5. My Bloody Valentine @ The El Rey Theatre 04-16-09 (review)
   
   
6. Silversun Pickups @ Coachella 04-16-09 (review)
7. Superchunk @ Coachella 04-17-09 (review)
   
8. The Hold Steady @ Coachella 04-16-09 (review)
9. M.I.A. @ Coachella 04-17-09 (review)
10. Bob Mould Band @ Coachella 04-17-09 (review)
    
    
11. The Henry Clay People @ Spaceland 04-06-09 (review)
    
12. Booker T and the DBTs @ Coachella 04-17-09 (review)
13. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ Coachella 04-18-09 (review)
14. Silversun Pickups @ The Echoplex 04-30-09 (review)
    
15. The Parson Redheads @ The Echoplex 04-28-09 (review)