This One's For Emily

Cuz it's my 127th post, and my sister is borderline-obsessed with the overwhelming occurrence of the digits of my parents' address in nature. Anyhoo, how are y'all? I've been busy and lazy at the saaaame time. While not posting here, I have written an astounding total of 0 articles elsewhere. Well, I did writeup and sendoff email interview questions for Ohmega Watts, a new Ubiquity Records hip-hop artist who happens to be performing tonight at the High Five, but he has not yet responded. So yeah, I have no excuses, just self-loathing, hahahaha. I did vote today, which was fun, and I hope you did too.

R.I.P. Mana "China" Nishiura

As I found out from Pitchfork today, a Friday car accident claimed the life of China Nishiura, the current drummer for DMBQ and a past "support" drummer for Shonen Knife. The accident also injured the rest of DMBQ (whom were all released the same day) and their tour manager. As I wrote back in April, DMBQ put on a great show with China on the drumset. I'm now glad that I saw them while she was still with us. Check the Shonen Knife link above for a full tribute. Sad.

Musical Contemplations - Thunder, Lightning, Strike by The Go Team!

I've listened to this album 3 or 4 times now, and I still don't know what to think. This album, originally released in the UK, was issued here in the United States last month by the powers that be at Columbia Records. I guess someone somewhere has deemed them as having some sort of commercial potential, because this certainly doesn't sound like a major label album. Before I go any further and give you the wrong idea, let me state that I do like the album (Furthermore, any Columbusites digging my review are hereby advised to stop by Used Kids, because the place is currently overrun by $9.75 copies). I don't know how to describe the style. Most tracks are sound collages of old-school hip-hop samples, some soul samples, and 70s-sounding instrumentation. Some of the songs sound like a modern take on 70s easy listening, which is just weird. The last track made me think of Abele (please read this) because it rocks the same sample as "Nikole" by Kurious ("Just like my jeans, my self esteem was saggin"), so huzzah for that! There are some tracks that sound like a mic was left on a chair next to a cheerleading practice, because there are vocals but the volume is very low. Overall, though, the enjoyment level is pretty high for me. If I compose these thoughts better, I'll try this again soon.

Well, I gotta run. Abele, Abby, Evan, and Stacy and I will see Tom Vek and the Mobius Band at the House of Blues in Cleveland Saturday night, which should be exciting. I'll try not to keep you waiting so long next time. Peaces.

Funky D: Now With 25% More Journalism!!!

Yeah, I guess it's not that big of a deal, but I'm still kinda excited about the fact that I interviewed a band! The dudes in Bling Kong were nice enough to talk to me over AIM, and it seems as though they will be quite entertaining on Thursday night at Cafe Bourbon Street. Of course, I will be attending the blockbuster Def Leppard/Cheap Trick show with Chops and Renkes beforehand, but those old-timer shows leave plenty of time for rock afterwards. It will be an epic night of rock.

Friday = Unpossibly Brown
On Friday night, I saw the blockbuster bill of The Brown Notes, The Rackets, Chicago's Time Out Drawer, and The Unpossibles at Oldfield's on High. It was a thorough display of rock. Of course the Unpossibles brought it, including some remnants of their ska set last month, like "Gangsters" by the Specials. Time Out Drawer seemed to rock pretty hard, but I didn't hear that much of their set. I had never seen the Rackets before, but they were cool. Since they were clearly thirsty, I bought them some PBRs that appeared to be much appreciated. To close, I finally caught a Brown Notes set (I had been waiting to see "Classic Dork" live for three or so months), and they were good too. Seeing it again wouldn't hurt, though.

Y'all Want the Funk?

It turns out that Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings are rockin' Ohio the entire weekend of November 4-6. Does anybody want to see them in Cleveland, Toledo, or Cincy? Let me know and we will plan accordingly.

Remember kids, "Y'all can charge it to the game, but keep all the receipts."

Digging this blog out of the shitpile

I must apologize to my loyal readership. When I started this thing back in February of 04, the mission was to chronicle the shows I went to, and add some album reviews and other musical hearsay. I did this pretty well for a long time, if I may say so myself. Of course, because I do attend a fair amount of shows, this got rather tedious at times for both me and you. So lately (the last four months or so), I haven't reviewed at all. Sad. Of course, I've reviewed some shows for Team Columbus!, which has also hindered my desire to review here. As of today, however, I'm gonna try to do better. I won't review every little show I go to, but I will try to do what I can. With that said, on with the show!

Duck and Cover!!!

This Thursday, October 20th, I will again be playing some funk records as a part of Mikey G & The Latino Pimp's Funky Thursdays @ the Ravari Room. Same bat time, same bat channel. Do it good.

On That Sam Cooke Steez
But damn, the Envelope Insignificant Anthems release party (and the album itself) was well worth the wait. The headlining set was a hip-hop musical, with Envelope dressed up as a "Centelope," with a wooden re-creation of a horse's body and a flowing mane. DJ Amos Famous was in an ice cream man get-up and throwing out ice cream and cookies to all. The proceeds were "narra-hosted" by Jeff Fernengel of Tree of Snakes fame. Though there were a bunch of sound problems, the boys succeeded in putting on an entertaining show. Go pick up the album, OK? El Jesus de Magico rocked as they have been lately, and the various DJs throughout the night kicked out various jams, culminating in a crunked-out dance party at the end. Good times.

I Want Candy
Yes indeed, Andy and I succeeded in making it to Athens last Thursday for some Taco John's...and MC Chris!!! The voice star of Sea Lab 2021 and Aqua Teen Hunger Force performed an hour and a half (!!!!!) of his solo raps, various requested bits of his cartoon work, and alot of standup-esque humorous observations on his career and life. It was a pretty good show. His throat was sore, which clearly affected him on alot of his songs, but he was a trooper. The large crowd at The Union was very responsive to his material and his exhortations, and he responded by saying that it was one of the best rooms he had played over his extensive tour. He even performed "Fett's Vette" twice, once with a Star Wars beat and once with the original. Good times. Though we missed openers The Ergs, we did see SNMNMNM, who were a quirky indie-pop band from Chapel Hill. Fine road trip.

Please Please Me
Tuesday was Pleaseeasaur at the High Five with Dave. As I wrote back in May, Mr. Saur was quite enjoyable as the opener for Neil Hamburger. This time he headlined, and it was another funny set. I don't know that we saw any new songs, but it was still hilarious. 1-800-NO-PROB-LIMO! Various members of local comedy troupe The Perineum were pretty funny to start the night off, and then The Stapler fuzz-rocked us into oblivion. Good stuff for a Tuesday night.

The Sun Always Shines On the Rock Empire
Last Monday, of course, was the fine bill of The Sun, Apollo Sunshine, and Greenlawn Abbey at Little Brothers. All bands put in fine sets. This show marked the release of the Sun's pioneering DVD album. I still haven't watched the videos, so no comment on that I guess. They kicked out all the jams, including an encore with "Say Goodbye" and "Spirit of 72," which I hadn't heard in a loooong time. Ol' Apollo Sunshine was pretty good. This was the eighth time I've seen them, and I still enjoy their sets. Their new music seems to be jammier than before, but it don't bother me none. Jesse (lead singer) had a female audience member come on stage and read the not-so-positive show preview that Stephen Slaybaugh wrote for the Columbus Alive. I thought it was funny. Greenlawn Abbey opened with another good set of indie-pop-rock. I need to see those dudes more often.

Well, this post has taken almost two hours, including bouts with Internet distraction and hunger pangs. I'll try to stay on the job.

APB!!!

The tickets for MC Chris at The Union on Thursday, October 13 (Next Thursday) are NOW ON SALE! I can put together an order for the people that are serious about it. With small(er) service charges, the $12 tickets are $14.75 a piece. Holla at a playa ASAP, as I'd like to order these by Friday. Right now I'm counting on Andy and Lee (and myself), assuming Dave is working. And...GO!

Easy as 1-2-3

This is my 123rd post, so thank you for your large part in the revolution. Nevermind. If only I could honestly say, "[muffled]Back then they don't me, now I'm hot they all on me.[\muffled]" Cuz they still don't know me, and I'm not hot. Oh well. The dryer at the Deming-cile sucks. Big red donkey balls. And I'm sweaty. Feh, on to other things.

Week de la Rock
Tonight: Dirty Dozen Brass Band w/ New Basics Brass Band at Little Brothers. Damn, it's hot!
Tuesday: The Capes, Jon Chinn & 1803, Fine Dining at the High Five.
Wednesday: Holopaw, Daedalus, The Black Swans at the High Five.
Thursday: (After catching a sneak preview of Waiting) Sound of Urchin, Black Cat Revival, The Brown Notes at (you guessed it) the High Five.
Friday: Atmosphere/Blueprint instore at Magnolia Thunderpussy
Saturday: Still up in the air. There is a Fiery Furnaces show at the Wexner Center, and there is a Heroes of History/Mors Ontologica/Kola Koca Death Squad show at The Basement (hmmm).
Sunday: Pass out.

Future-er Hype:

Monday, October 10th: The Sun (DVD album release party!), Apollo Sunshine, Greenlawn Abbey at Little Brothers. Damn straight. The album is out (I seen it!), but I will wait to buy it until this show. Will be fun.

Friday, October 14th: Envelope Insignificant Anthems release party w/El Jesus de Magico, etc. Been waiting yeeeeears for this. Better be fun!

Gotta go change laundry. See y'alls on the flipside.