Last night, I was at the TLA in Philadelphia to see Pedro the Lion, Damien Jurado/Gathered in Song, and T.W. Walsh rock it loud and hard. Great show, as expected, and was a little smoother than the NYC show. Why do people at the bar at the TLA always talk so much? Who pays $12 for a show ticket to talk through it all? I don’t get it. It is a growing pet peeve of mine. This is why shows in NYC are consitently better than Philadelphia. Yeah yeah yeah, listen to me rant like a bitter old man. Anyhow, it was good to see everyone again and I got more time to chat with everyone and see some old friends.
I’m going to visit Denison tonight in the studio to evaluate his progress on Philadelphia Songs. The re-design for River Bends will be done by the end of the month, our graphic hero Andy has sworn. So, the re-issue will be available from Denison and the btv site in late June and in stores sometime later over the summer.
New Yume Bitsu LPs and Early Day Miner cd/LPs will be available in the on-line store sooner than soon. Buy them now (from me or elsewhere). You need these records to survive. It’s true.
:::scott:::
I was in NYC last night to see Damien Jurado and Gathered in Song lash out with some hefty rock. T.W. Walsh began the show in a definitely over-the-top rock performance, as well, much different from the previous times I’d seen him play. The set was short and sweet. Pedro the Lion wrapped up the evening, playing many songs from Control, as well as a few classic hits. Seeing Damien rock so very hard was definitely the highlight of the night. The band played many songs from their recent I Break Chairs album and a couple from Ghost of David, with Damien beginning the set with a couple solo songs, including a very dark folk murder ballad. Johnathon (Unwed Sailor, Circle of Birds) was there to support each of the three bands and it was excellent to chat with him and everyone else in the bands. Tonight, the blistering rock comes to the TLA in Philadelphia. If you’re home and not at the show, this is the true definition of loser.
A friend sent me a bootleg copy of M
So much has happened since I last posted some news, so this will be a longer update. I’ve been away for almost two weeks. My grandmother died and I flew back home to Indiana. When I got back, I went to all of the festivities for my friends Scott and Jane’s wedding. It was a beautifully informal outdoor event, very laid back and perfect weather. We all sent them off at a Sunday brunch and then I went to NC for a week for work.
I did manage to see The Faint play at the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, NC, which ended up being a treat. I have been slightly disappointed by their latest, Danse Macabre, after being impressed by the previous, Blank Wave Arcade. The band was amazing when they kept the crunchy synths and rocking beats, less interesting when they tried to play more straight rock songs.
I got to visit the home of our distributors, Redye, who are in nearby Graham, NC. It’s always nice to put faces to names. Represses of Ester Drang’s Goldenwest and Denison Witmer’s The ’80s ep are nearly complete and will be in stores very shortly, for those who have noticed these missing. Also, Huntington’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Habits for the New Wave has been re-pressed and sent out to stores. It has an updated color scheme, less pink, more black. I think it is an improvement.
Updated versions of The Trouble with Sweeney’s Dear Life will be ready in a week or so and will have a blue/grey color scheme, rather than the previous pink/green retro ’80s preppy throwback look that, while ironically cool, wasn’t necessarily the best choice in colorings schemes in these ought years.
My friend managed to score some tickets to the sold out Belle & Sebastian show last night (she was my hero for that) so I landed at the airport at 7 and made it to the show by 8. I missed a little of The Aisler’s Set, one of my favorite pop bands with releases on Slumberland and now Suicide Squeeze, but was impressed by the songs even from the nose bleed seats. Belle & Sebastian were quite good, a little sloppier than the records but more entertaining. Stuart came out on stage in boxing trunks as the band played the theme to Rocky. Philadelphia loved this and it went a little of the way to make up for B&S cancellation of their previous show in ’98 or ’99. I remember waiting in the hall for about 2 hours until they cancelled it. It left a bad, anti-B&S taste in my mouth for quite a while. In any case, seeing them improved my relationship with the band’s songs. In the middle, they gave out a big box of t-shirts and some buttons to try and soothe the wounds. There’s something to be said about classiness like that.
After the show, a bunch of us went to see Spiderman in a trashy West Phila theatre that I had vowed to never go to again. It was okay, since there were a lot of us. The movie was enjoyable for a midnight movie, not as great as some of the reviews I’d read suggested, but better than a lot of current movies. Willem Dafoe is one of the best psychotic villains ever.
So I guess that sums up a lot of what I’ve been up to. I will be visiting Denison and Edan Cohen (producer of the recent Songs:Ohia record) in the studio later today to hear some of the close-to-finished songs from Philadelphia Songs. Sunday and Monday, I will be catching Damien Jurado with Pedro the Lion and T.W. Walsh in NYC and Philadelphia. Johnathon Ford (Unwed Sailor, Circle of Birds) is playing in the Jurado and Pedro bands, so that’s really exciting and T.W. Walsh will be doing a one-sided LP at some point in the one-sided series. The Six Parts Seven have also committed to a one-sided LP that will be recorded later in the summer and released in Winter 2003 or so.
By the way, Burnt Toast Vinyl will be re-releasing Don Peris’ Ten Silver Slide Trombones to stores on 2 July. Look for that at a store near you, especially members of the Coalition of Independent Music Stores. As always, this is available from the btv on-line store. The Trouble with Sweeney : Plays Karen and others cdep will be distributed to stores through Burnt Toast Vinyl and Basement Life Records in June, so look for that in stores, as well. It should be available on-line later this weekend or on Monday. Don’t forget to see Joey on his massive coast-to-coast tour. Dates are listed in the touring section here and on The Trouble With Sweeney website.
much love,
:::scott:::