LBF: I miss Portland

Monica, Hart & Marc were all in town last night, and we had dinner at the fine Hama Sushi (thanks Rich & Jeff!).

Monica was new to the Venice experience and asked how it compared to Portland. "Like Portland with a beach, and more crack deals." we replied.

But here's my current home. Venice is the first 1/3 of the video or so.

Lazy Blogger Everyday: Tunak Tun

My friend Sarah sent this over as Best First Dance ever. Which reminded me that at the Higgins wedding reception, the Blue-Haired monkey, Blake, Higgins and I all did the Tunak dance:



Not saying there's any causative relationship, but the marriage didn't make it 5 years. 8)

Comfort food

When I'm down and wish to change I listen to comfort food...

DOWNLOAD: Richard Ashcroft -Brave New World

Comfort

If you've ever received a mix cd from me, you've surely had some version of Float On put on the CD. If you've ever worked with me, you've heard the song at least 20 times. Every morning.

Isaac Brock seems like a son-of-a-bitch, but his tough luck acceptance of his own fuck-ups is inspiring and comforting in its own twisted way.

Strangely, I've never seen Modest Mouse (or Marrs) live.

DOWNLOAD: Modest Mouse Bluegrass Cover Band - Float On

Down

Having a rough week after a rough weekend. Feeling down and out, haven't been able to sleep and have realized I need to take a big break from drinking. In other words, I must deal with my issues head on, and it scares and depresses me. Also, my therapist is on vacation for a while.

So, here's to the Queen of Self-Empowerment R&B and a little inspiration. (Though honestly, I feel like this song is on the negative side of the postive upswing.)


DOWNLOAD: Mary J. Blige -Be Happy

Lazy Blogger Friday (Wednesday edition) Radiohead: All I Need

Very cool video. Bravo, sir!

And here's an Arcade Fire one:



Both credited to editor J. Tyler Helms.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

My Spree Shows

Via a thread on the Unofficial Polyphonic Spree Forum

My shows.

The best of which might have been the first. I flew down from Portland Oregon to Coachella in 03. In Portland, it rains from about Labor Day through July 4th with barely a day of sunshine. This was late April in Palm Springs – 90 and nothing but sun.

The Spree were the first band to play on Sunday, and my friends wanted to hang out at the pool until late in the afternoon. So, I had them drop me off at the fast food area so that I could hitchhike in. The first girls I asked, two San Diego hotties, looked at each other. One asked the other if she thought I looked like a serial killer. The other laughed and I was in.

On our drive in I took a couple of pills and went direct to the main stage. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and when they played ‘It’s the Sun’ I was fuh-ly-ing.

10 shows with 20 different friends going with me later, I’m not sure I’ve had a better Spree moment. 8)


1. Coachella 2003
2. Portland 2003 Aladdin Theatre with the throat singer (Donna, Miika, k8?)
3. Portland ? - Can’t remember (?)
4. Portland – Lucky Strike show Dec 04 - (Hope was there)
5. Seattle – Lucky Strike show Dec 04 (KWatts & Trika)
(couldn’t walk up the hill to the coffee shop the next day, my calves were so sore from jumping 2 nights in a row.
6. SF first show of Together We’re Heavy Mid 04? (Orange and her drunk friend) (TWH played str8 through, and they started at like 7pm, so we missed half the show.)
7. SF Together We’re Heavy Feb 05? (Esmerelda Strange and Joanna
8. LA – Henry Fonda Sep 06 (Vallier)
9. LA – El Rey July 07 (Marcus, Josianne, Hart, Marc, Erika, Jessica, Jodi, her husband, her friend, Butter, Ted) a birthday celebration
10. San Diego – July 07 (Adam)
11. LA – Henry Fonda – Nov 07 (Erika)

Neko was great, Disney Music Hall crowd not-so-much

Saw Neko on Friday night at the Disney Music Hall for Jessica's birthday. It was a strange show. We had gone out to dinner downtown at the fine Takashimi Restaurant (next to the Elevate Lounge. The place actually looks down on The Standard.

The show actually started on time, so we arrived as Neko was playing Deep Red Bells - maybe my favorite song of hers.

Since the Disney Music Hall is a fancey venue, we had to wait to be seated until the song was over. Once seated, the venue is pretty spectacular, and we seemingly right above the band.

No Sadies with her this time, but a fine group of musicians (including a pedal and steel guitarist) along with melodic and comedic foil Kelly Hogan singing back-up.

Having missed her first 3 songs, we were treated to an eclectic set. For some reason, Neko kept straying from the setlist, informing the band of the changes. Her and Kelly were chatting a lot in between songs, telling jokes and laughing.

Set highlight was "I wish I was the moon" which Neko explained was a song for her father who was a 'very odd and lonely man.' 'Runnin' out of fools' was nice, and the bible lifting song, 'John the Baptist' was great with Kelly and Neko's harmonies.

A subdued crowd was a big downer at the show. Those that yelled out were the hoi polloi that don't usually attend these hi-falutin events. Between that and the confusion over the set list, I never felt like the crowd warmed-up. Also missing the first 3 tracks was a bummer.

I still love Neko, but I'll definitely think twice about seeing a show at the Disney Music Hall.

Stream the whole show at: NPR

Feel like I'm missing a Portland show, but:
Sasquatch 2003 Molly
Aladdin Nov 2004 with the Sadies - Michele
Missed her at the Bowl 2006 to see the Spree
Fonda Feb 2007 - Jessica
in the New Pornographers, Oct 2007 - Ozer, Jessica, Amburr, et. al.
Disney Music Hall 2007 - Jessica

Lazy Blogger Friday: Neko Case

Seeing Neko Case tonight at the Disney Music Hall, a venue usually home to the LA Philharmonic. Really, really, really looking forward to this show and plan on getting dressed up all fancy.

Hoping to bring in my camera and snap a few pics and possibly even take a few videos.

Lazy Blogger Friday: Jens Lekman - You Can Call Me Al

I love left-field covers, but I just wish the audience would stop laughing during them. If the artist is choosing to play a song, assume it's because they really like the song. (See the live bootlegs of Ryan Adams playing Wonderwall, for example

Brother, brother, brother

Took a walk this morning along the beach on my way to work. Snapped a few pics, including this one.

Now what song will I be humming all day? Only one guess.

DOWNLOAD: Marvin Gaye - Mercy Mercy Me (the Ecology)

Also found this in my iTunes collection, via Tony Marinelli and his special project to help rebuild New Orleans after Katrina. DOWNLOAD: Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) f. G. Love

Rumorchella

I would doubt most of the acts listed here, but if this is the line-up, I'm driving up Thursday, watching the shows on Friday night (yes, the Verve chief amongst them) and then driving home late Friday night, early Saturday morning.

LBF: I miss Portland

Hey, nudity and hipsters. I miss Portland.

(sigh)

Just a casual, casual easy thing. Well it is, is it for you?

Echo the Puppy, Man

Today's mix is dedicated to my future dog, Echo.

The video's relevance? The Beavis & Butthead episode where they wash Anderson's dog. "Washing the dog! Washing the dog! Baaaah-neeeehh."

The first track here sounds like a lost love song, but is actually a lost pet song.

Your Adorable Beast is more of a straightforward love song, unless BBJr. is singing about a human relationship, in which case, it's not.

Oh, and I'm going to name my dog Echo, so here's a Bunnymen song. Imagine little Echo waiting around a pound looking for his ....

DOWNLOAD: Old '97's - Murder (Or a heart attack)

DOWNLOAD: Bobby Bare Jr. - Your Adorable Beast

DOWNLOAD: Echo & The Bunnymen - Rescue

Lazy Blogger Friday: Tegan and Sara

Was listening to this track on my work computer with stereo a blastin'. And was wondering what kind of girls Tegan & Sara go out with.

A minute or two later, our new friendly Aussie CEO, Nick, walked by and jokingly told me to "turn that crap down." I lowered it to hear what he was saying, and then he asked who it was.

For some reason, I felt compelled to give him some back story on the ladies, so,
Me: Identical twin lesbians from somewhere in the Northwest.
Nick: Do you have any pictures?
Me: I don't think they're really that kind of 'lesbian'.
Nick: Well, keep listening then.

Just another day in the life of an ad agency guy.

Here's the White Stripes covering the Tegan and Sara hit, Walking with a Ghost. My friend Alison loves the song and says that it makes her feel like a teenager again.

DOWNLOAD: White Stripes - Walking with a Ghost

OPmP3: gorillavsbear.net: mad decent fun fun fun

Gorilla vs. Bear has a badass Diplo mash-up of last years fantastic Hot Chip single "Over and Over". Highly recommended.

gorillavsbear.net: mad decent fun fun fun: "diplo at beauty bar: austin, TX Well I haven't had that much fun in a long time. Thanks to everyone who came out to Beauty Bar on Sunday night for the Mad Decent afterparty, and a huge thanks to Franki Chan, Klassen, Blaqstarr, and Diplo for being awesome. Also thanks to Lone Star for making beer that is at once cheap and enjoyable. The whole night was a blast, but Diplo's set was ridiculous. This one brought the house down: mp3: Diplo Shake It Over and Over"

OPmP3: stereogum: New Cat Power - "Song To Bobby"

Stereogum has a new Cat Power track from her forthcoming Covers Vol IIJukebox CD.

stereogum: New Cat Power - "Song To Bobby": "Cat Power - 'Song To Bobby' (MP3) Lovely, languid, anecdotal, epistolary ... and those Dylan intonations and extrapolations. Now we need to spend more time catching all those details and references. And the list: As the folks at Matador tell us, 'the names below indicate the best known performer of the original songs, who are not necessarily the songwriters.' Note, too, that the order's different than the one originally posted a couple weeks back: 01 New York (Frank Sinatra) 02 Ramblin’ (Wo)man (Hank Williams) 03 Metal Heart (Cat Power *) 04 Silver Stallion (The Highwaymen) 05 Aretha, Sing One For Me (George Jackson) 06 Lost Someone (James Brown) 07 Lord, Help The Poor And Needy (Jessie Mae Hemphill) 08 I Believe In You (Bob Dylan) 09 Song To Bobby (Cat Power **) 10 Don’t Explain (Billie Holiday) 11 Woman Left Lonely (Janis Joplin) 12 Blue (Joni Mitchell) * original version on Moon Pix ** brand spanking new Additionally, expect a limited-edition 'silver foil deluxe package' with this here bonus disc: 01 I Feel (Hot Boys) 02 Naked, If I Want To (Moby Grape) 03 Breathless (Nick Cave) 04 Angelitos Negros (Roberta Flack) 05 She’s Got You (Patsy Cline)"

Lazy Blogger Friday, Monday edition: Bittersweet Symphonic reunion

The Verve have reformed and embarked on a UK tour. Here's a short snippet of them playing one of my favorite songs ever, Bittersweet Symphony. Goose bumps when the crowd sings along. Enjoy

Lazy Blogger Friday: Polyphonic Spree tonight!

Here's The Championship as performed here the last time around. I was right behind the cameraperson, and you can even hear me singing during the end...

Lazy Blogger Friday: Naughty by Nature

Should probably post a Polyphonic Spree video, in honor of seeing them tonight. (Show #11 for me).

Instead, we grab this classic rap video from 1992. Naughty by Nature also gave us the inspiration for OPmP3 with the Jackson 5 sampling 'OPP'.