Monday, June 28, 2004 Saturday night was the farewell performance of Aspera. Over the last few years, many of the members moved from Philadelphia to NYC making it difficult to stay together. The show was an incredible performance, mixing their layered keyboards, noisy MBV-ish guitars, and electronic drum sounds as they played a wide selection from their most recent, post-Oh Fantastica material to an early song from Peace. Incidentally, I hosted their cd release party in 1998 for that debut album at Circle of Hope in Philadelphia where All Natural Lemon and Lime Flavors, Antarctica, Jejune, Piebald, Asteroid #4, Damien Jurado, Dave Fischoff, Danielson, and Pedro the Lion had all played. There are no firm plans for what will happen yet, but if the new material is any indication, there will still be music in some form for their futures, collectively or individually. The Aspera Back When Love one-sided LP on btv will be the last official release from the band. On Friday night, I went with 10 friends to see a sold out showing of Fahrenheit 9/11 which was the top movie in box office revenue and is now the top grossing documentary of all time. Whether conservative or liberal, you owe it to yourself to consider the ideas presented in this film because everyone is going to be talking about them. I was impressed by how few Moore-style shenanigans were in the film and how often he just lets the footage speak for itself. It is a chronicle of the Bush presidency from the controversial election stealing to recent times. For me, and perhaps others, the most damning critique of Bush comes from the mother from Flint, Michigan who has always supported the military, with both a son and daughter who served in the armed forces. Her son was killed in Iraq and she emotionally deals with both her loss and the war. Equally damning is the actual media footage of Bush and his cabinet justifying the invasion on the premise of their being weapons of mass destruction and then a later interview of two elderly women asking each other where the weapons are. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 10:59 AM CST Friday, June 25, 2004 As Damien Jurado has written in the blog on his website, the release of This Fabulous Century LP is closer to completion. Once Damien finishes the artwork, the LPs will be ready in about 4 weeks. All copies ordered directly through btv or Damien will be on white vinyl. You can pre-order copies through the website now and these will ship when they are complete. A dozen of us are off to see Fahrenheit 9/11 tonight. Go see and join in the controversy. Aspera's final show ever will be at the Northstar in Philadelphia on Saturday night. See you there. The one-sided LP will come out post-humously once a new B side etching is finished. The re-issue of Denison Witmer's Philadelphia Songs with 2 bonus tracks and the Andrew Bruntel/Ali Zubik directed video for "24 Turned 25" will be ready in very early July. I'm driving Unwed Sailor Marionette LPs and books, Saxon Shore LPs, and The Six Parts Seven The Attitudes of Collapse one-sided LPs to Secretly Canadian in Bloomington next week in plenty of time for a 17 August retail release. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 10:44 AM CST Thursday, June 24, 2004 Be sure to go and see the new Michael Moore movie Fahrenheit 9/11 this weekend. Joe Giachero said he'd be there, too. Joey Sweeney plays with Hayden tonight at the Philadelphia Ethical Society near Rittenhouse Square. I'll see you there. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 02:06 PM CST Wednesday, June 23, 2004 Decahedron (with Johnathon Ford of Unwed Sailor) tour dates: 07-15 Chapel Hill, NC - Cats Craddle 07-16 Washington, DC - The Black Cat 07-17 Wilmington, NC - The Soapbox 07-18 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar * 07-19 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar * 07-20 Wilkes Barre, PA - The Zoo 07-21 Boston, MA - Middle East * 07-22 New Haven, CT - Rudy's 07-24 New York City, NY - Rothko 07-26 Toronto, Ontario - Club Rockit * 07-27 Toronto, Ontario - Club Rockit * 07-28 Lansing, MI - Mac's Bar 07-29 Detroit, MI - Shelter * 07-30 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop * 07-31 Chicago, IL - Fireside Bowl * * with Dillinger Escape Plan :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 11:56 PM CST Tuesday, June 22, 2004 The Trouble with Sweeney : Fishtown Briefcase was #12 most added on CMJ with 33 stations adding the release. Keep listening to your local CMJ station for the summertime sound of the sweeney. I got to see Joey and Charlie play at Pianos in NYC on Sunday. Joey played some Trouble with Sweeney material, a Springsteen cover, and a few of his own songs. He'll be opening up for Hayden in Philadelphia on Thursday, maybe I'll see you there. Incidentally, their website is fresh and new up here. I also saw Unwed Sailor play in Wilkes-Barre. They stayed at my house so they could be closer to some guitar shops. Anyhow, the set is a little more aggressive with two guitarists this time around. See them on the tour to hear all of your Marionette favorites played as a new version. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 04:38 PM CST Thursday, June 17, 2004 A review of The Trouble with Sweeney : Fishtown Briefcase is up on Pitchfork. Don't forget their shows in NYC and Philadelphia tonight, Friday, and Sunday. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 09:33 AM CST Wednesday, June 16, 2004 Congratulations to Josh and Martha Grace on the birth of their daughter Lily Esther. I'm out tonight to bid a farewell to my good pal Keyes who's off from Philadelphia to New York City. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 07:42 PM CST Tuesday, June 15, 2004 From The Trouble with Sweeney: MIKE CONKLIN'S LAST STAND! THIS Friday, June 18th, 9pm The Fire - 4th and Girard (Philadelphia) The Trouble With Sweeney with The Teeth, National Eye, Adam Arcuragi Joey Sweeney solo: THIS Thursday, June 17th Office Ops - Rooftop 57 Thames St, Brooklyn with Dominic East and Merritt Janson. THIS Sunday, June 19th Pianos 158 Ludlow Street (Lower East Side, Manhattan) with Dominic East Thursday June 24 7:30pm At The Philadelphia Ethical Society (19th + Ritten House Square) Philadelphia with Hayden. I watched a lot of 16mm films last night getting ready for an upcoming Reels of White Softly Flow performance. We have some dv footage that Willis and our good friend Ben Volta shot, too. A few of us met last night and planned plans. Ethan is working like an mad scientist electrician short circuiting all kinds of potential instruments. It's all pretty exciting. Jess and I saw the new Harry Potter movie this past weekend and it was incredible. Alfonso Cuarón works magic as director giving viewers a greater perspective and feeling to Hogwarts Academy. The camera angles and edits are quite different, making it a much better film from a visual perspective. The plot is still a lot of fun, but overall, it's a much more serious work. Unwed Sailor are still on tour, get out and see them when they come to a city near you... :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 11:01 AM CST Monday, June 14, 2004 I'm listening to the final mixes of the forthcoming Bosque Brown album to be titled Bosque Brown Sings Mara Miller. It will be out this fall in stores once the artwork is finalized. Brother Danielson is having a cd release party for his new album, Brother is to Son, on June 17 at The Coral Room in NYC. The release date for Woven Hand's Consider the Birds cd/LP is now on 2 October 2004. On sadder news, I didn't mention it last week...Larry Weigner worked for the post office near me and was often the person who would mail a lot of the btv packages. He unexpectedly died last week at 46 and is missed by all who knew him. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 10:29 AM CST Friday, June 11, 2004 Today was proclaimed as a national day of mourning for the passing of Ronald Reagan. With any president there is good and bad and hopefully his suffering from Alzheimer's will influence increased research into this disease, though he himself likely would have favored cutting federal funding to such research. I don't like to be very political here, but, how can we so positively remember things like Reagonomics and the extreme militarization that were ushered in under his command? He racked up a deficit that we're still paying for and an economic legacy that favored the rich and greatly increased the distance between rich and poor. While his efforts may be attributed to the end of the cold war, the legacy of militarization is still with us today. Let's remember the Iran-Contra affair that sold weapons to the Iranians to fund revolution in Nicaragua against the wishes of Congress and the American people or the funding of the School of the Americas that trained Latin American guerillas and revolutionaries, teaching them tactics to enable them in their struggles that left hundreds of innocent people dead. Let us mourn the passing of an affable and popular movie star and public figure and pay all the proper respect, but I will not be mourning the passing of a great president. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 02:07 PM CST Tuesday, June 8, 2004 A digipak repress of Unwed Sailor : The Marionette and the Music Box arrived today, so that will be available again from the btv store shortly. Unwed Sailor will have these for sale along with the book and LP versions on their tour. LP booklets for the live Mount Eerie 3xLP release also arrived, along with covers for Sufjan Steven's Michigan album. I've been helpind Sufjan and Asthmatic Kitty coordinate the release of this. Check with Asthmatic Kitty for a release date. Woven Hand : Consider the Birds is on its way to get mastered to vinyl for a September or October release. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 02:37 PM CST Monday, June 7, 2004 On Friday, my friend Ben will be having a gallery opening: The Bathhouse Group- at the University City Arts League, June 11th – July 2nd. Opening reception: Friday June 11th, 5.30 – 7.30 An installation by: Ben Volta, Hisako Inoue, Michael Tarbi, Alicia Keller, Billy Blaise Dufala, Tom McCloskey, and Steven Dufala The Bathhouse group consists of 7 PAFA graduates who have collaborated through work, exhibition and discourse for more than four years. Employing two and three-dimensional practice within a variable conceptual context, our work at the University City Arts League Gallery is a continuation of the group's efforts to create large scale environments sensitive to the locations in which they occur. The installation at the UCAL Gallery will be essentially a free-standing room within a room. Built walls and ceiling support a matrix for the expression of the seven individuals creating a singular work. Through a process of workshops, "test" exhibitions, and discussions, what began as an investigation into drawing practices has evolved into a collaborative reassessment of the nature of “group exhibition”. By restricting the type of materials used to primarily wood, plastic, paper, and fabric, and minimizing the use of color, our challenge has been to create a unified work with the integrity of each individual artist's vision intact. Please visit www.inliquid.com/xindexx.html to read a review of a past exhibition at Ofuroya: the bathhouse contemporary art. (Reviewed by K. Malcolm Richards) :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 09:57 AM CST Friday, June 4, 2004 More official dates for the Unwed Sailor tour: Wed. June 9 - Chicago, IL @ The Bottom Lounge Thurs. June 10 - Grand Rapids, Mi @ The DAAC Sun. June 13 - Des Moines, IA @ The Vaudeville Mews Mon. June 14 - Omaha, NE @ Oleaver's Pub Tues. June 15 - Wichita, KS @ The Cedar Wed. June 16 - Evansville, IN @ John Berry's House(1701 Crystal Court) (812 303 2722) Thurs. June 17 - Dayton, OH @ Jags Mon. June 21 - Wilkes Barre, PA @ The Outreach Tues. June 22 - NYC @ The Mercury Lounge Wed. June 23 - Washington D.C. @ Wharehouse Next Door Thurs. June 24 - New Haven, CT @ Rudy's Fri. June 25 - Akron, OH @ The Lime Spider Sat. June 26 - Pittsburg, PA @ Club Cafe :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 03:35 PM CST [ Archives ]