“Is it ever going to stop? I guess that’s up to you…”

I was driving home tonight…it was somewhat late…I was tired, ready to go to sleep, driving fast, wanting to get home.

A song came on the stereo that I’d heard a hundred times before, and thought I knew what it was about, but tonight it was like a brand new song.

In some ways it was like the sky was ripped down and another sky was behind it – different colored, with new things floating around in it.

It’s hard to describe something that has nothing to do with words – but this song crystallized a way of seeing things that I’ve been gradually moving towards without knowing it. It’s like a demarcation point.

I think that’s what TSoS is about – the reality that music can point to. Or maybe not.

I can be pretty dense at times so it usually takes driving in cars at night to understand things, especially music.

Note: The YouTube video is just some guy’s homemade video, but it’s the version off the album.

Took a walk alone last night
Slept inside your head
It was raining hard again,
crawled back into bed
Tried to catch up to you
But you moved too fast
Thought about a million things
Fell asleep at last

Got up again last night
Tore all over town
Skidding tires screeching brakes
Barely make a sound
We were on a winding road
Going 65
Slid along an icy stretch, made it back alive

Little eyes are open but they don’t see very far
You can only hurt the ones you love
Not the ones you’re thinking of
Little eyes are open but they’re sinking back again
Don’t you know you’re sleeping much too long
Wake up little eyes

Moving but not gaining any ground
Climbing up the escalator as it takes you down

Last night I heard this sound
Echoed everywhere
Like a buzzing amplifier
Burning through the air
It’s still raining hard, you said
Have you any clue?
Is it ever gonna stop?
I guess that’s up to you

Little eyes are open but they don’t see very far
You can only hurt the ones you love
Not the ones you’re thinking of
Little eyes are open but they’re sinking back again
Don’t you know you’re sleeping much too long
Wake up little eyes

Life has meaning again for me. The mantra of the day most days is to live in the moment, but my philosophy is one of enjoying the moment while being excited about what the future holds. For me, having an Akron/Family concert on schedule for the near future is something that propels me through the doldrums of work. The El Rey is big step up for the psychedelic, freak folk indie rock band known as AK. If you have not been to one their epic performance I hope you will take an evening to experience a force of energy unlike any other.

Here is the closer from their last time the TSS crew ventured to see them at the Steve Allen Theater.

Akron Family – “Woody Guthrie’s America” from Capt. AKAK on Vimeo.

I have six tickets. $24 dollars a piece.

1. Capt AKAK
2. Mroyed
3. JP
4. Karen
5. Capt Shabbin
6. KB

Other Peepz:

1. Sean
2. Amanda
3. ALHP
4. Chabs
5. Ebee
6. Amelia
7. J WYA
8. Matt
9. Timstrument
10. Michele I
11. Courtney C.

To buy more tickets go here: Ticketmaster Portal

i just printed out an order confirmation for Tortoise in Brooklyn on May 30th. studio Tortoise doesn’t do anything for me but after the way John McEntire sent an all-night orgasm through the audience with the Sea and Cake….. well, it’s gotta be great, right?

Tortoise plus Bird Show
Saturday, May 30, 2009 7:30 PM
at The Bell House, Brooklyn

also a free show in Manhattan the next day:
SUN, MAY 31
NEW YORK, NY /
WORLD FINANCIAL CENTER WINTER GARDEN
BANG ON A CAN MARATHON

This month’s compilation holds a very special place in my heart. It was given to me back in 2002 when I was barely listening to any music outside of electronic/techno. The person who produced this cd has asked to remain anonymous, but know that I respect his/her musical tastes more than most. This compilation marks the first time I ever heard a song from the likes of Belle and Sebastian or Modest Mouse; two bands that have been a staple in my diet ever since…..

Note from the producer: “This mix CD is from 2002. It was mixed on a crappy old school laptop that ran Windows98. By the end of the mix if you made any changes you’d have to wait ten minutes for the computer to render out the entire waveform. The program that I mixed it with came on a floppy disk. I got the samples in via tape deck to the computer’s line in jack. The Alan Watts samples are from his radio show that was playing on 90.7 FM in Los Angeles at the time and the Kesey thing was from NPR…I used to have a tape in the deck at all times to record interesting segments. The Grapes of Wrath is the source for the other quotes…my favorite movie. There are also some Bob Dylan “Don’t Look Back” quotes in there too.
You have to have an open mind to get into this CD…at times a very open mind. I wasn’t trying to be cutting edge or hip w/ the music…every piece meant something in relation to the album’s theme and should be taken completely out of their respective musical genre/zeitgeist contexts.
It’s a good roadtrip CD or a good CD for cutting and stacking wood.”

Additionally the compiler of this album believes that “not letting people know the track names ahead of time is important. If they want to know they can look in the notes. That way it’s more of a surprise and an experience, as opposed to thinking ahead of time “I hate the ………” or any thoughts like that.” I must say I agree.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to disappear and make my homage to Tucson.  That means….I have two tickets to see Deerhoof open for Wilco on June 18th in Tucson.  If anyone is interested…let me know.  FYI I have them up on Stubhub too.  Willing to sell them at list price ($32 each +$3 service charge).

Here is a review of live from December 2007: “Combined with the physical playing of bassist Lou Barlow and the frenetic pounding of drummer Murph, Dinosaur Jr.’s formidable noise obliterates the vocals in concert. Fortunately, it’s not the words that exert most of the band’s power.
In its best moments, the band executes impressive dynamic shifts, such as the way the noise subsided to leave space for the singing in “Been There All the Time,” another of the new songs. That one also revealed another side of the band’s appeal: surprising melodic twists that elevate the music above its sheer muscle.” [Orlando Sentinel]

Personally, I have only seen J. Mascus (the band’s guitarist) play as a solo artist for his side project J. Mascus and the Fog. He absolutely rips on guitar. But my brother, FerrisSC, saw Dinosaur Jr. play about a year ago in Texas, stating that one of his friends was so overwhelmed by the sound that he fainted. Whether or not that is an embellishment, I am not going to miss this band while they are still together. Who is with me? I will buy extra tickets based on the comments section.

Troubadour Event Details

I got 6 tickets. $35ish a piece.

1. Capt AKAK
2. M Pailes
3. JP
4. George Pants
5. Tinman
6. WBrecords

During a 4 hr meeting at work on Wednesday, I was secretly praying for a swine flu outbreak in the greater southern California area. allowing me to stay home for the rest of the week. While this dream did not come to fruition, there has been enough of an outbreak to derail one of the concerts I was most excited about year to date. As reported by Cornelius/Deerhoof’s myspace page, this pseudo art-meets-noise rock tour will not be venturing through the contaminated waste land of LA. *Tear. It appears that only Laura will be lucky enough to see Deerhoof before we all die from the pig flu.

I tried to play some songs from each album before posting this list to try and get that perspective…except on Built to Spill I didn’t bother with the Doug Martsch guitars…just barre chords.

1. Built To Spill- Perfect From Now On- This choice did not take a lot of thought. Although when I listened to it again I just thought “fuck you Doug”…he’s too good. My absolute guitar hero without compare. 

3. Velvet Underground-Loaded- Sweet Jane brings back great memories of the “90′s when I was living in a teepee. I had my cd collection and my amp plugged in from a plug that popped up from under the ground right through the dirt floor. 

2. Bright Eyes-I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning- I’m feeling somewhat apologetic about this because I did not listen to it for at least a decade, but the guy is a phenomenal poet. Once, ok maybe a lot of people can do that, but three or four albums later he seems to be getting no less profound. And his hat at Coachella was evil, in a good way.

1. Pavement-Brighten The Corners- As I stated previously, using the word “Korea” and “career” interchangeably  is ridiculous. Malkmus has been untouchable for a long time. The album was all I listened to in 1998 along with some personal pain, two packs of reds per day and a great World Cup soccer tournament.  

2. Paul Simon-Paul Simon- This album has been on my list the longest. Paul is such a great writer and he can play the guitar like he was from the Delta…He is at the top of his incredible game here in 1972. 

1. Tom Waits-Small Change- Mr. Waits is so playful, witty, and badass here with such a huge piano and gravel in his throat. It reminds me of seedy, smoky piano bars in the 1950′s and I was born in 1974. Some old guy in a music shop in San Francisco came up to me and said, “Do you have Small Change?”. I said “no”. He looked at me sadly and said “Get it”. I did as I was told. When God speaks one must listen. 

3. Dinosaur Jr.-Where You Been- This album is so great for so many reasons. It’s sad, cathartic, and still crunchy. Even his cover art is brilliant. This album taught me how to be sad and violent at the same time. 

2. Modest Mouse-The Lonesome Crowded West- I love where this album takes me. It’s funny because of the cowboy named Dan, the cockroaches, the pornographer cinematographer, etc. If I see a kid in a music shop I will ask him if he has this album. It has it all, for all seasons. 

1. Pixies-Surfer Rosa- If I see the girl in the photo on the cover of this album I will make out with her then start a band. She’s so beautiful that I would introduce her to my mother even though she has no shirt. (I’m not talking about my mother). Whatever. This album made me cool when I was young and ignorant and knew nothing of politics. It still makes me feel dirty, like I’m in the basement in the daytime with nothing to do. 

2.Lucinda Williams-Car Wheels On A Gravel Road- This is one of the best albums of the ’90′s. If I were a poor white girl growing up in the ’60′s in the Mississippi Delta I would be Lucinda Williams. This is about as close to country as I get these days, but I could listen to her voice ’til the cows come home. She sings about guitars, barbed wire, eggs, bacon, and Macon. Are you kidding me? Her subsequent albums have not entered the same mesosphere as this one. Yes, she really does “talk like that. It’s real”.

There Captain, I put them in order. You’re welcome. I’m sorry, but numbers 4 through 10 didn’t make the list. Which one of these is my favorite changes depending on if my kids are sick then it’s a sad one, or if I get in a fight with my bride then it’s another and so forth. 

-Idwind