pisstopher

i recently came across Benjy Ferree. this shit is outrageous and excellent. he just came out with a new album called 'come back to the five and dime bobby dee bobby dee.' outrageous. oh, and the single of now is called 'christopher pisstopher.' i may have been more on this, except he played the Black Cat on Saturday when i was at the 930 crushing on young Tennesseeans. especially since he claims to be from PG county.

anyhow, i cant really dscribe his style, other than to say it starts with rock and goes from there. it goes to wild and interesting places. i would like to see these places. they seem to have guitars and a piano and interesting rhythms and some cool pedals for that guitar. i would like to witness this music in person. very much.

at this point i would post some content, but i am not one of those cool bloggers who has the rep and rapport with artists, so just click this link and play some tune on his myspace. maybe one day...

loud was the night

ok, so i was kind of lazy yesterday and never wrote this, but here goes.

Saturday night, the final evening of February, Dan Auerbach, Hacienda, and Those Darlins played down the street at the 930 club. i was wondering if he could possibly bring as much to the stage as he did in the fall as one half of the Black Keys. the answer is yes. but that comes later in this little ditty.

first of was Those Darlins. i had intentionally not looked into them before the show. i am familiar with Dan and Hacienda, so i wanted a surprise. that they were. when three girls came out on stage with strings slung round their necks, i admit i was very skeptical. ive seen the act before where a couple girls learn some basic chords and try to ride cute to success. i mean that candy apple hollow body was bigger than the body of the girl holding it. she quickly proved that she had the licks to play it. i was impressed. not surprising for Dan, he picked a lofi, solid band who is better live than the couple recordings i was able to dig up yesterday. at any rate they bring the best of Cash, Carter, Haggard, Kristopherson country and mix it with the best of Ramones, MC5, Black Lips gritty rock. and mix in the fact that they are most assuredly chicks with licks. they rock the fuck out and look damn good doing it. so yea, i dont mind pretty girls playing music, so long as they can play. and in that case, i not only am ok with it, i all out endorse it. go check these ladies out at SXSW or on their tour with Dan on the way.

now with the crowd sufficiently riled up, Hacienda made their entrance. ill spare you the comparisons that wont do them justice, and just say that they play a laid back style of rock. it will get your toes tapping at the very least. these guys from Texas can play and make me not hate Texas. as much. i just dont know what to say. polished but soulful. real, raw, and fully finished. check out some videos. dig the base line in 'she's got a hold on me.'

so by the time the two kick ass starter courses are through, ive got just the right amount of whiskey coursing though me. then, Dan comes out with Hacienda playing behind him. what could be better? i mean, if youre not familiar, then shame on you. i mean, in the Black Keys he has amassed a rather large following. their simple blues rock is killer. and Dan by himself is just as killer. the difference is that the blues rock is the jumping off point. 'i want some more' is just dirty and soulful and sweet. i want the kind of girl who falls for a song like this. falls hard. 'heartbroken in disrepair' has tones of psychedelia. you can feel a little Jimmy in there. at any rate, like the others who warmed up the stage, he for outplays his recordings in person. you cant waste money on seeing this cat live. plus, hes got a rad beard.

so between the whiskey, good company, and tunes that cant be beat, it was a great night. the only problem is that i got separated from a couple of my cohorts. normally, not a big deal, were all capable of taking care of ourselves. but they ran into the ladies that had stolen my marinated heart earlier in the evening. i was pissed when i got that text. i mean, im still kinda crushing on this girl. c'mon, just look at her.

i woke up last night with this song in my head

i wake up at 4am or so and stumble to the bathroom. i stumble back to be and lay down then realize im humming this song. its odd, but its a good song. what really made me stop is that i havent heard this song in years and years, and there it is. i remember the whole song. not all the words, but the beginning and end and the tune in between. and, dear subconcious, what conjured up this song from the depths of my memory. but props to mom and dad for listening to this along side the Cream and Bill Monroe and Neil Young.

Mills Bros - Paper Doll

creepy memory

im a rememberer of people. other things too, but theres no awkward conversations or any of that with a coffee shop, bar, forest, or beach. they tend to be equally welcoming to all.

at any rate, memory has its purpose in the grand scheme of things. you know where to find food and water and not to touch a hot stove. you know where to find the people, things, and places that are of comfort. but there are some things i would rather forget. and it seems that many other people do. and i will, in all likelihood, forget your name when i first meet you. but if you make any kind of impression on me, i will remember your face forever it seems.

so what to do then? when i see a random acquaintance do i talk to them? i feel like i would come off as some sort of idiot savant. 'we meet two years ago a a bonfire in the summer and talked about canadian bacon and how its just ham and that actual bacon is far superior, but for the life of me i cant recall your name.' or not acknowledge them, and if they remember, you could come off like some arrogant jerk. this is where social anxiety comes from, i think. well, its one source. and my primary source. however, since i love awkward situations its not really that bad, only a little creepy to some.

anyway, this whole remembering things also seems to make it a bit difficult to let the past be. it seems i am always dredging things up in my mind. theres second gussing. theres wondering 'will it ever be that good again?' hoping that something like that never happens again. replaying the car crash, the pain, the joy, the love, the loss of yesterday, last week, last year, a decade ago. its this memory that gets annoying sometimes. why do these names and places and things come back years later? far past their useful shelf life. surely i could use that space to recall things of greater import to my life now.

oh well, perhaps one day the meaning of all this will reveal itself. mayhaps not. at any rate, i have enough to wory about, and id rather not creep people out or feel awkward about ignoring them.

musical thoughts

i'm loving Dan Auerbach's Keep It Hid. he is once again getting the Jack White comparison, which is probably annoying, but not a bad crowd to be in. theres a good interview from Aquarium Drunkard here. check out some tracks here. and there are still tickets available for his show in DC on the 28th here. im super pumped for it.

i still think that Neko Case and the New Pornographers are overrated. i only mention it because some folks around here are freaking the fuck out about her show. i mean, the both definitly dont suck, but i see no reason for the frenzy. i would absolutley take them over most pop radio, but probably wouldnt listen to them much on my own.

The Hard Lesson's new disc drops May 26. fuck yea. you can check out some tracks here. if their last show is any indication, its going to be grand.

The MC5 still fucking rock, in case youve forgotten or, more likely, never knew. check out Wayne's wicked toe drag at 1:50. not too many bring it like this.

I got my hands on the Black Lips latest late last night, but have yet to digest it. 200 Million Thousand promises to be raucus and awesome. check it out here. theyve got a killer sound that draws on the Dead Kennedys and Lynyrd Skynyrd and Johnny Cash. theyre also about to kick off their tour, so check that link. it looks like they are hitting up most major cities and SXSW.

and finally, ive been fooling around with a harmonica, but i pretty much suck. but its fun, and less intimidating than a guitar. less sanitary too. but i figured out some basic blues stuff, so thats rad.

WTF Pandora!?

seriously? audio ads. you do realize that one of your big perks was not having to listen to asinine commercials about TV shows i am less likely to watch with every add i have to see or hear. aside from being able to pick the type of music and artists to hear, the lack of ads was the best thing you had going. well, you always had ads, but they didnt interrupt the music. now, evidently they do.

ive praised pandora.com time and time again for preserving my sanity. theyve been drowning out the country and other crummy music that is piped into my office. i appreciate it, i really do. but if this add thing becomes regular, im sure there is another source for online music. say it aint so...

CAW!

andrew bird's new disk, 'noble beast' is up on npr.org, oddly enough. theres also an interview there, which is more in NPR's purview. i mean, i know those guys are all over as far as coverage, but it seems an odd spot for mr bird to pre release his album. anyway, it sounds good to this guy, and i get to see him in a couple weeks. for joy!