I've Seen Enough - Cold War Kids Hi-Fi Goon - Throw Me the Statue Hey! Little Child - Alex Chilton Watch Your Step- Jason Anderson Changing- The Moondogies Run Chicken Run- The Felice Brothers Dream City - Free Energy Early Warnings - Forgeign Born Tell It (In My Ear) - Fergus & Geronimo Bartender - Earthmen and Strangers Garbage Day - Brendon Benson Canadian Girl - The Walkmen Dear Boy- Bodies of Water Lost In The Flood - Bruce Springsteen Sleep All Summer- Crooked Fingers Bear- The Antlers This Time Tomorrow - The Kinks Here To Fall - Yo La Tengo
Some old standby songs, some new jams. As the unofficial end of summer approaches I suppose I got it stuck in my mind that this was gonna be a "I'm bummed the summer is ending" type of a mixtape. This summer was a lot of fun: beach houses, big buses, trip back home and a couple of weddings, among other things I'm surely forgetting. I started to miss beach volleyball on Sundays even before it was over. Then I realized the only thing I like doing more than playing beach volleyball on Sundays is watching football all day on Sundays. And plus, it's always fuckin summer out here.
Part two in a two part series documenting text communication with my family
sis-Hey I was just reading a magazine and it said mr belding has a karaoke cd coming out bro-haha, that's awesome. He's probably going to have to sell it out of his trunk but that's ok. sis-ha ha yeah and he was talking about how he wasn't invited to the saved by the bell reunion on jimmy fallon's show bro-that is kinda messed up. And you know he was available. He'd a been on the first jetblue flight outta burbank. sis- yup and i think screech wasn't there either
Just some tunes that I wanted to put together, some local flavor, some other stuff. Most were going to be on a mixtape I made in May which didn't pan out because of some computer issues. Maybe some familiar names, maybe not. Probably stuff you'll like if you like rock and roll / America.
Anyway, just wanted to try out posting on a fileshare site, see how it all works. I'm sure the files won't load or you won't be able to listen to it for some reason or other. I'm not that technically proficient.
Sun Was High (So Was I) - Best Coast Stuck for the Summer - Two Hours Traffic Christee Christee - Zach Vinson Empty House - Paper Route Wilco (The Song) - Wilco Double Dutch -The Henry Clay People Young Hearts Spark Fire - Japandroids Wake Up Call from the Nexus of Me and You - Downtown/Union Radio Kalininbrad - Handsome Furs Tongue Tied - Le Switch I Want You To Know - Dinosaur Jr Abel - The National Got to Get You Off of My Mind -The Rosewood Thieves I Must Be Dreaming - The Monolators What's In It For? - Avi Buffalo Hold Your Head High - Heartless Bastards Carmelita (1974 Demo) - Warren Zevon
The main point I want make is that even though Everest has toured or is going to tour with Neil Young, Wilco and Death Cab for Cutie and will probably be a critically acclaimed band and have a large amount of success, they don't have one song that is as good as 'Working Part Time' by The Henry Clay People.
Everest may end up having their own huge headlining tour down the road but I gotta believe that I'll remember The Henry Clay People a lot longer and have fonder memories of seeing them play then I will of seeing Everest.
Maybe it's because I have a tend to root for underdogs with moxie, maybe it's because I've seen them play in front of about 15 people, 12 of which I'm sure were in other bands playing that night or maybe because I saw the lead singer at The Hold Steady concert as a ticket buying fan.
Although Everest did bring out The Watson Twins for one song, so they are cool with me. Also, Everest also doesn't have a song that is as good as 'How Am I To Be' either.
A running list of movies I've seen for the first time in 2008, in chronological order
Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project I am Legend There Will Be Blood City of Industry Malice Rambo Metropolitan Ace in the Hole The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Mr. Jealousy Gone Baby Gone The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada Once Michael Clayton Zodiac Barcelona Semi-Pro The Darjeeling Unlimited Foreign Correspondent Into the Wild The King Kong: A fistful of quarters Neko Case - Live in Austin The Parallax View From Here to Eternity The Lookout Shine a Light The Wanderers The Searchers Before the Devil Knows You're Dead Iron Man My Morning Jacket - Okonokos Midnight Cowboy I'm Not There Windy City Heat Things to do before you are 30 Blast of Silence The Incredible Hulk Strangers on a Train Harper Hancock The Dark Knight Being There Pineapple Express Be Kind Rewind Rear Window Vertigo Talk to Me The Guns of the Navarone Burn after Reading Thief Shadow of a Doubt Brief Encounter Absence of Malice A League of Ordinary Gentlemen Road to Perdition Body of Lies In Bruges The Bank Job Rachel Getting Married Dirty Harry The Indian Runner
Don't You Evah - Spoon One Big Holiday - My Morning Jacket (Live @ KVRX radio session 2000) Shattered - Rolling Stones In the New Year - The Walkmen I'm Glad - The Black Keys (Captain Beefheart cover)
If you would like any of these songs or as a playlist, yell (holler) at your boy or hit up google / itunes you torrenting sumbitches.
ps, if you don't download the Catchdubs mixtape to get the sweet fade-in transition from Harvey Danger to Rage Against the Machine, then you are sad because if you hit me up on facebook or IM to say "Yo Zach, I didn't have the bandwith or memory on my Ibook to download that sweet mixtape you told me about" I will attempt to explain it to you but I won't do it justice so, you do you, and update your RAM playboy / playgirl. I could be projecting my insufficient laptop status on you loyal reader, maybe, maybe not, maybe fuck yourself - Dignam
In the week leading up to the Super Bowl most people complain about the hype, listen to co-workers give asinine opinions on the game or try to keep the ESPN consumption to a minimum. I did all of these things and I also rocked out.
With a schedule that usually goes in hand with someone with an ironic mustache and a fedora, I went to three free rock shows during the week and just so happens The Monolators were at each show.
The last night of The Parson Red Heads residency at Spaceland in January was the first time I caught the Monolators. I got there as soon as I could after work and managed to catch the last three or four songs by the Parson Red Heads. I liked this band well enough as the members of this sprawling band were bounding around the stage, dressed like they were ready to go to a hipster version of a P-Diddy white party when I heard on of them say, "Stick around for the Monolators," I knew it was safe to go back to the bar for another Stella because I wasn't leaving any time soon.
The Red Heads finished and The Monolators set up. If I ever interviewed a band like the Monolators, who still set up their gear by themselves, I'd ask, "What is going through your head as you see the band in front of you finish and it's time for you to set up?"
But I'd try to make it sound more profound and nuanced but sadly I'd also stammer and say um and uhh a lot more. Alas, those fake journalist questions are neither here nor there.
So the Monolators are ready get live and low and behold, a solid portion of the people are still around. This doesn't happen all the time when the band 'headlining' is done and the last band takes the stage after midnight. But these people aren't fools, they know what is in store. Although it could be that they don't have a real job and don't have to be up early in the morning (raising hand) or they are in a band (hand down).
This following sentiment shouldn't really matter that much but it does and always will and I say I don't really care that much but I care at least a little bit.
Like I previously mentioned, I came right from work so I was rocking the glasses, had on a pair of khakis and a button down dress shirt on. I dressed like pretty much no one else at Spaceland, which I don't really care about too much but at the same time I couldn't help but think people were looking at me a little askew. Or maybe it was the huge bulge in my pocket. Hey, it was my Nike windbreaker I jammed in there because I got too hot, relax. Bottom line, I was gettin looks like I was a narc or gasp! liked Coldplay.
This has nothing to do with the Monolators at all.
I had seen The Monolators twice before I think, once at Mr. T's bowl (for free) and at Bordello ($8), sharing the incredibly talented bill with The Henry Clay People, Correatown (right before Walk Hard came out which I thought would make that band blow up but the movie tanked, but there is still time for that young lass,) and The Broken West. Just a lot of talent in that weird, hard to find, (construction is not a game around there) adds-to-my-low-street-cred bar that Wednesday night.
So I knew what to expect.
But they completely blew the doors off that Monday night. Just an inspired performance, everything seemed louder, a touch faster and basically, they would not be denied. We Fell Dead, 14 Degrees, Eagle fighting Zebra, You Look Good on the Train and a couple others rocked intensely hard. I bounced around like a silly person, yelling out choruses and stomping my feet the whole set.
But through out this mayhem I was worried. Could it be? For the third time seeing them in the flesh were they not going to play my favorite song? This song was my first taste of The Monolators (shout to la-underground and Jax @ Rock Insider).
Stawberry Roan, I hadn't heard it live and I was worried that this epic performance would be not as sweet as it could have been.
Eli- "Ok, we're gonna play one more song, what do you guys wan-" me- Strawberry Roan, owww, Strawberry Roan Tall Dude from the Parson Red Heads - "yeah, Strawberry Roan" me - (louder) "STRRRAWBERRRY ROAN" Your son he can't come out tonight cause he so far gone, he's so far gone ohhh, he's makin nice, he's makin nice
At about this point, I'm cheesing like its a prom photo and my date is Cindy Crawford, jumping up and down is inaccurate it's more like throwing myself in the air.
The tall dude from the Parson Red Heads is rocking out and we high five, "This song is sweet, I can't believe we did that" he says and I'm thinking Fuckin A right and get back to getting down with the get down. (It's this portion of the story that makes me hope the Parson Red Heads get fuckin big time and I have a humorous story that my grandkids will not give a shit about because I'm old and have droopy ears but they have to be nice and listen to me talk about the good old days because I'm their grandpa)
I felt just unbelievably happy after the show, ears ringing, kinda like I had about five too many Crown shots but I wasn't drunk at all. It was just an amazing performance and as the sports cliche goes, they left it all out there. The rest of shows I see 2008 will face a tall order to beat that show out for my favorite performance of the year.
Just three days later I would be back at Spaceland for another free show, this time for The Airborne Toxic Event. As other blogs have said already, this show was packed, people turned away after waiting in line for over an hour (my roomies and I were almost in that group). I wasn't even that geeked to see them, all the bands on the show, as a group were the reason I wanted to go. Standing in line all that time to see one band that truthfully I didn't know all that well wasn't my intention. But time was invested and it was too late to turn back.
The show was good, I appreciated the songs the next day when they weren't associated with long lines and VIP guests getting in the door in front of me and the Amstel Lights that were a long time coming before I could swig them down. Shout out to Jack Bauer though.
This still has to do with The Monolators because I saw them after the show, told them they rocked, shook Eli's hand and kept it moving. My car was far away.
Friday I get a text message from my roommate that The Monolators were playing for free that night too. First Friday's at Mr. T's bowl in Highland Park was where I saw them the first time. There are lots of cool things about a show at Mr. T's.
It's definitely one of the most unique places to see a show. People aren't there for the scene, most are there to see a friend's band or some band they heard about from a friend.
They played a couple of new songs, "I'm knocking" I think was the title of one of them which I could see doing very well in 08.
The first time I saw them they played Eagle fighting Zebra because "it's appropriate, there actually was just a fight outside" Eli remarked to the crowd which kinda leads into why shows at Mr. T's could not be such a good time. But no fights this time, no eagle fighting zebras either.
After the show, I stuck around, thinking about wanting to get a shirt. Somewhat due to the Sierra Nevada intake, wanting to support the band and wanting to rock a local band t-shirt to show how cool I am I made the decision to purchase one.
