naga-nooch

friday afternoon, matt and i set out to bloomington, indiana with a two stage mission plan: 1. visit our dear friend nathan and his wonderful girlfriend heather; 2. watch kevin smith (man, myth, legend) speak at indiana university. luckily, bloomington is an hour behind louisville, so we had no problem making it to the kevin smith q & a on time. simply put, the man is just fucking awesome. during the nearly four hour event, the man formerly known as silent bob took every question thrown at him, no matter how idiotic (and boy there were quite a few) with good humor and a smile. some of these questions lead to half hour long stories, the best being the origin on his friendship with jason (jay) mewes and smith's week at prince's paisley park. another cool thing was the fact that they were filming the lecture for a dvd. so you may have a chance to see matt, nathan and the puffin in living digital (amongst 3000+ people, neh). a great experience that i will cherish for quite some time. here are some comments from kevin smith about the evening. after that the fellas and i grabbed some grub and had some beers.

saturday was pretty freakin' fun as well. we went out with nathan and heather for lunch and so nathan could pick up his comic books from the local store. that evening heather made us all rice and chicken enchiladas which, if i may say, were fucking excellent. after that we attended a halloween party thrown by some of their friends. beer was consumed, music was played and pleasant conversation was had. somewhere during the evening, i ended up tearing through bloomington in a car with two lovely grad students that i had just met (one dressed as a mermaid, the other as a barely dressed cowgirl). we hit another crazy party than a bar. i got pretty drunk.

the next morning, heather (bless her heart) was able to track me down and bring back to where i was supposed to be staying. i spent the rest of the day hanging out with the gang and nursing a hangover. late in the afternoon, matt and i hit the road again for a smooth, uneventful drive home.

i'd have to say it was one of the best weekends i've had in a long time. i got to see kevin smith speak and meet a bunch of new people. much love goes out to nathan and heather for putting us up and putting up with us. this coming weekend, nathan will be in town for matt's birthday, so i'm looking forward to that.

cheers.

posted by paul 6:22:41 PM

i don't want the world to change; i like the way it is

it's pretty insane that two of the best albums of the year would be released in the same week. i've finally had several chances to listen to the first new order album in eight years get ready. in that eight year absence we have seen the rise and fall of oasis in the british music scene, the mid-`90s electronica wave, and the usage of electronic music by people from madonna to r.e.m. all of which could affect an impression anyone may have of an aging british electronic dance/pop/rock band. so what does a band with a 25 year career do? put out (yet again) a damn fine record. sure, there is some of the familiar new order feel, but get ready still sounds fresh, not dated as some may fear. though the album is a solid piece of work, the songs can be divided into three groups:

the classic new order awesome single sound: new order has always been known for their kick ass single. crystal (the lead off track and the first single) and turn my way (featuring billy corgan) just reek of this. these songs just hook (no pun intended) you in and dig into your brain for about two years. if there was such a thing as a cool radio station that played good music, these are the kind of song that would be in heavy rotation.
ambiant, hypnotic dance tracks: i'm not big on what is considered dance music these days, but new order always made beautiful dance music that was intelligent and emotional; not cold and clinical like a lot of what's out there. this is mostly helped by their uses of the old school instruments- guitars, basses and live drum kits; as well as tidal waves of synth wash, loops and samples. someone like you and vicious streak are examples of this.
flat out guitar rock: get ready contains some of the most aggressive guitar work bernard sumner has delivered since the early post-joy division period/movement period. 60 miles an hour, rock the shack and slow jam (the type of song oasis wish they could still write) really kick out the jams! keep in mind that these four persons are approaching their fifties!

new order's refusal to "act their age" is a theme that repeats through out the lyrics of get ready. as a true testament to their skills, they've put out an album that sounds right at home in the 21st century. they may be one of the founding father bands of electronic/alternative dance music, but they do not date themselves. it's great to see the video for crystal and wonder what would be going through a teenager's mind while viewing it. the band has been replaced in the video by performers who are all barely 20 and beautiful. those raised on brittany and nsync may form the impression that what is on the screen is the real deal. us old fuckers get the joke though. we love our wrinkled bernard, peter, gillian and steve.
posted by paul 6:10:26 PM

i want out (x 1000)

it looks like every two years i am blessed with an album that just shakes my world. in 1997 i got radiohead's ok computer and in 1999 i fell in love with blur's 13. as you can tell from yesterday's post this year's album is fugazi: the argument. i will go out on a limb and say that i think this the best album the band has ever recorded (a title i previously delegated to in on the kill taker). this is the focused development of everything fugazi has ever done before. this is still fugazi, you can hear elements of all their other albums, but they've continued to push their sound to another level. more complex song structuring that progresses through several movements in the same songs. brave guitar work. usage of samples piano, cello, trumpet and (get this) acoustic guitar next to the regular four piece set up increase the feeling of an evolved sound. here's some thoughts:
untitled: stark and moody, fed with loops and samples and dominated with a cello.
cashout: moody ian groove that kicks into overdrive with the help of that same cello. a song about the dangers of gentrification. ends with a nice piercing scream and harmonic feedback followed by a fall apart crashing end.
full disclosure: guy screaming a mantra over and over that leads into one hell of a chorus that includes some breathtaking backing vocals. the bridge and lead guitar riff that happens at around 2:40 makes me want to weep. the chaos at the end makes me want to kill. the best track on the album, if not one of their best songs ever.
epic problem: opens in a very classic call and response fugazi style. the coda reveals a vulnerability unusual to fugazi.
life and limb: more startling backing vocals. flying fret work and picking similar to some of the end hits stuff.
the kill: joe has been contributing vocals for a song for the last two albums, and he's done it again here. ian jumps in at times. a spooky studio jam number. very similar to recent sonic youth. a trumpet slides in to the mix as well as some whistling and a respirator.
strangelight: it opens with a piano, amazing. in the same vain as the last song but sung by guy. kicks up into some sinister growling guitars at the end. and that cello returns for a big epic ending.
oh: a great anti-globalization song. one of the things that's different is that guy, joe and ian all have vocal parts on this number.
ex-spectator: awesome double drum intro by brendan and jerry busher. when the guitars kick in, the song becomes a soundtrack for a spaghetti western from hell. there is a section that sounds like the marriage of fugazi and disco.
nightshop: hands down the oddest song fugazi has ever recorded. section one: spooky end hits demo sound and guy singing lead. section two: dinosaurs and elephants on a rampage. ian and joe show up to help vocally. section three: two words- speed metal. section four: acoustic guitar, harmonies and hand claps. this song is like a mix tape that melted together, merging the tracks. somehow the song stays fluid and cohesive.
argument: the closer. simply beautiful. ian sweetly sings us a warning about going against the grain. three minutes into the song a music box explodes into our skulls. the outro hits you in the face and gives us another lead guitar passage.
do yourself a favor, drop whatever you are doing and buy this album right now.

and let us not forget the furniture+2 e.p. it's the long overdue studio treatment of some live favorites. more in the vain of the classic fugazi sound, so it's understandable why these songs are not included on the argument. here's the rundown:
furniture is just simply classic fugazi. a song that's been around since the beginning of the band and of course it still has that feel. it's like an early e.p. song from the `87-`88 period but recorded better.
number 5 is a blistering instrumental heavy on a (until recently it would seem) a lead guitar lick. a flat out rocker, not to be listened to whilst driving.
hello morning classic guy picciotto coming at you at one million miles per hour with teeth like knives. don't drive to this one either.

cheers.
posted by paul 11:55:08 PM

accessory to the time

i've finally picked up fugazi's new one the argument. i've only heard the first four tracks so far, and i can only say one thing: goddamn! this album is incredible! god fucking damn!

more on this when i pick myself off this floor.

p.s. the furniture e.p. is awesome, too.
posted by paul 7:50:39 PM

let's bomb the factory that makes all the wannabes

hello. been awhile. either i've been too busy, or i haven't had anything to report. i'm not sure.

the new order album (newordergetready) came out this week. i also think the fugazi album (the argument- great title) and 7" (furniture- yes!) are out as well. unfortunately, i've been very broke and cannot afford to purchase this long desired items until the weekend. i picked up the new garbage (beautifulgarbage) album; hated it at first but i've finally decided i really like it. if you like garbage, check out the revamped site. it has all their videos as well as some streaming music.

still writing music. still playing it with the norm. the product is coming along very nicely. just need a rhythm section.

the world needs some humor; don't be afraid to tell a joke. now is the perfect time.

cheers.
posted by paul 5:25:08 PM

hey, mr. cardiac

yesterday, matt, brax, neil and i climbed into alice (my lovely little car) and drove four hours to champaign, illinois to see firewater. the drive up was going very smoothly, until we hit, what seemed to be, a particularly facist part of eastern illinois. warning signs that the 55 mph speed limit is strictly enforced as well as signs telling drivers to slow down because "my mommy works on this road". creepy. what was even more foreboding was the series of signs for guns save lives.com. one that comes to mind went sort of like "my mommy sleeps, without fear, that's because, her gun is near". needless to say, i started minding the speed limit for that stretch for fear of the what kind of attitude the local law enforcement (as well as the apparently well armed citizenry) would have towards four out of town "city boys".

we found the venue with only a few minor topographical difficulties. the high dive was nice little bar and the sound was pretty decent. unfortunately, dance night started at 10, which left firewater and the very dull opening band two hours to play. firewater took the stage and simply rocked the anemic crowd. brax and i made sure to cheer louder than usual to make up for the lack of people. firewater played a diverse set of songs from all three albums. the band didn't let the lack of people keep them from performing one of the best shows i've ever seen. they would have played more, but apparently the establishment let be know that there was disco to be had.

we made our way to the merch table and tod a. himself was running the damn thing. we got to talk to him for a good twenty minutes. we told him that we drove four hours just to see the show. this impressed him enough to consider doing a show in louisville sometime in the future. we also instructed him in the proper pronunciation of louisville (luh-a-vul). one hell of a guy that tod a.

the drive back that evening was quite an experience. during the last 45 minutes matt was trying to keep me awake by talking about how some people were trying to debunk the fake moon landing theory. i managed not to kill the four of us and we made it home safely.

cheers.
posted by paul 1:42:11 PM