Friday, August 29, 2008

PHOTO: "MY DOPPELGANGER IN RED TIGHTS"

Whilst tanning at lunch,
"He" took my place in high school
and then dropped out
to work on a Camaro
and now gets
more pussy
than I.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

HOT MIX '08

The small hairs of my German companion's bush were visible at the edge of her bikini bottoms, her camel toe a hot distraction from my work. Anxious to remove my stiffness from site, I rented a Speedo (not the cheapest option, to my surprise) and took to the surf. I was reminded of snorkeling in Malta some years back. Under the influence of Horus' Eye, a mermaid served me a gin & tonic from a mirage. She exited through labias of heat waves, an angry pirate waiting for us on the other side.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

PROFONDO ROSSO

Watching Deep Red at the moment and it's absolutely killer. Missing many scenes, yes. The worst wide-to-fullscreen transfer, definitely. The leading man isn't half bad but totally unconvincing during a laughable scene in which he goes off on an anti-feminist tangent. [Speaking of feminism, was Hillary Clinton's DNC speech the first feminist speech at a national convention? Dang.] Anyway, I hesitate to say it's better than Suspiria because at some point I went from being an Argento fan to being a Goblin fan and haven't watched an Argento film in years (also, I almost puked whilst watching Suspiria). That said, the soundtrack is so excellent that I hate myself for not picking it up on vinyl when I had the chance. Anyway, here's the creepiest fucking scene:

Friday, August 15, 2008

BLOOD ON THE WOOD PILE

So, I fell flat on my face as Skate Laws last night, literally and figuratively. Some confusion over amplification and then a mixing goof made the vocals perfectly audible and the music a wee bit quiet. People seemed to enjoy it well enough although my favorite comment was, "It was interesting! I'll have to see it a few more times to decide what I really think." Ha -- me too.

It was an inspiring night nonetheless. Different from any other show across the board, and coupled with a free jazz band I saw in a basement a month ago, this has to be the best era of A2 house shows I've seen (of course, Mini-Systems was long gone by the time I moved here). There's talent, brilliance and modesty in place of the pretension, preciousness and ego I observed from some gross, carpeted corner of a student house a few years ago. It feels like Erin and I are tapping into the particularly smart and artistic crowd that we've been pining for.

Also inspiring: The John Baker Tapes. So much fun and so exactly what I've wanted to hear of late. I just gotta' start dicking around with cider bottles and pitch at the new place. Also a gemstone: Bacchanal by Gabor Szabo. Perhaps musically as good as Dreams, it also has a gorgeous cover. Unlike Dreams, Bacchanal's sleeve hints at a 12" Brakhage still. Gorgeous.

Monday, August 11, 2008

DARK MATTER

A couple months ago, Robert Wells and I agreed to DJ the Heavy Manners in August in place of Chuck (not Slick) and Brett. Robert later reneged so I tapped Aaron Lindell to take his place and enlisted our pal Raj as pinch hitter. It was our first time playing the Elks Lodge and, if anyone has heard me talk about just how great and strange the venue is, one might have expected my excitement over playing there. It started off slow but steady at 10pm and gradually the Elks filled. By 12:45am, the place was starting to get packed and newcomers kept up until around 1:50am. Raj closed the night pretty mightily and Aaron and I got to dance with our ladies. When we finished around 3am, the bartender came by with our tab and asked when we were coming back to do the Elks again. He handed me their calendar and I marked off three days during the next three months. Aaron remarked that this should be my thing since he has eve and Robert has the soul club. That sounded great to me since I had just been complaining to Aaron that I wanted my own night and I get to have it at the Elks. Amazing. Wonderful. It's going to be called Dark Matter.

Skate Laws' second performance was this past Wednesday in Ypsilanti. Save for Laserbeams of Boredom (a.k.a. Craig -- drums and guitar, he plays both at the same time, totally wicked) and Patrick Elkins, the events and bands preceding my set reminded me why I stopped playing shows for a while. Holy shit. I opened with a little a'capella Brenda Lee and went right into "White Columns", read a story, kicked my shoe off, made some cigar jokes, got sweaty, and did the splits. John Nelson of New Grenada was there and as soon as Erin said I should get a band behind me, he piped up that he and some people wanted to start a thrash band. I agreed to do it. The best part is: I don't have to show up to practice! They'll write songs, tape 'em and upload the suckers, then I'll write the words and we'll meet up to play shows. Anyway, Mike snapped the photo to the right. When I got home that night, Laurel asked me to play a show at Arborvitae this coming Wednesday and I agreed.

Another few weeks before we move to the new spot but I can't wait.

Monday, August 04, 2008

AIGRETTE

It's been a relatively slow summer for Ann Arbor so it's quite surprising when, say, 260 or so people show up for the Ann Arbor Soul Club like they did this past Friday. Expecting it to be a slow night, I got there late and was greeted by a long line out the door. Surprisingly, the evening was sans movie stars. Up next: a Skate Laws show and a night of DJing at the Elks Lodge. Both are well anticipated by this ol' boy.

Speaking of anticipation, we're moving into the new place come the first of September. It occurred to me that I won't have proper means to record once we're in the new spot so I'm devising some new ways of working. The change of pace and ethic should prove fruitful tho', and maybe I will self-release some music as suggested by Travis. It would be a while before that tho' -- Erin and I are readying the Roj work for mastering and production and the Benoit test pressings should arrive shortly.

Speaking of Travis, in a couple weeks, the gent is marrying the lovely Ms. Cara and I've the honor of serving as best man. As a result, I've been tripping down memory lane, paying special attention to a particularly enjoyable period of time a few years ago. He and I were living a few blocks apart, both single for the most part, often stopping by at one or the other's place with a bottle of wine (or vodka) and whatever new album we were being haunted by. Along with the other fellows of the Garland Street Mens Society, we made a lot of good food, threw some get togethers, watched a lot of movies of varying quality, and recorded quite a bit. All in all, one of the more productive and enjoyable periods of my life.