I’m finally back home after about 5 weeks of being away. A special thanks to Matthew for keeping the mail order running while I was gone. I spent last week on vacation in California. It was a week packed full of adventure. Jess and I saw Mogwai and Willie Nelson in the same week. Mogwai seemed to be exploring the softer, kinder side of their music and concentrating less on the explode your ears decibel levels, still quite loud and chaotic when necessary, though. Willie is classic, what more can be said? The only slight complaint would be that he didn’t do a single tribute song to recently departed Johnny Cash. I’ve never seen him in action with Lenore and she’s got an amazing sound. I got some beef with the LA fairgrounds making us pay to get into the fair in order to see the show. In the end, we gave in and rode the ferris wheel and had some junk food, but we came for Willie and nothing else. While we were walking to Mogwai after seeing a great ’50s 3D movie, I heard my name being shouted from a car…Andy Bruntel just happened to be driving his…
Category: news
I’m in the Chiangi airport in Singapore, surfing wireless, preparing to get back to the U.S.A. It’s been a long time coming. Goodbye to Justin and Sanna and all at work, including Jim who is a faithful update reader. I’m making a mad dash to get The Six Parts Seven one-sided LP ready for their Oct tour. Did I mention how hott this record is? I did, probably, many months ago. But, it is hott and you will love it. Some mastering/plating issues that we’re taking care of, but it will be worth the wait, well worth the wait. Starflyer 59 vinyl covers have been painted by our pal Jesse and the etching work is underway. The Ester Drang one-sided LP is also coming along, former member David Motter is designing the jackets. Stephen Drozd from the Flaming Lips plays on one of the tracks. Here’s a taste of autumn dates with The Trouble with Sweeney: Sept 26 | Swarthmore, PA | The Old Club, Swarthmore College w/ The Wrens Oct 1 | State College, PA | The Roustabout Oct 2 | Philadelphia, PA | The Khyber w/ Che Arthur (ex-Atombombpocketknife) Oct 3 | New Haven, CT | The Space…
In the most recent issue of A.P., Saxon Shore : Four Months of Darkness recieved a 5/5 rating. Take heed from the rock critics and buy yourself a copy on cd or vinyl today. I was in Bali this weekend with my friends Justin and Sanna. We stayed in a more remote, non-Beach part of the island where the artisans and farmers live. We saw a few master craftsmen at work making masks, puppets, and instruments. We also saw a Balinese dance with pretty interesting and droning music and a shadow puppet show. The next day, we went to the sacred monkey forest where monkeys are protected because they’re important to the Balinese Hindus. You can buy bananas to feed the monkeys in the park, so Justin/Sanna made me do that since they’d already been. A bunch of monkeys came up to me when they realized I had food. I was feeding the little guys the bananas and the bigger monkeys were getting mad. I fed the biggest monkey a couple of bananas, but apparently it wasn’t enough. He started tugging on my pants to get my attention and to get more bananas, but I was busy feeding the little…