Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm

Like many high schoolers, I had a network of friends that were constantly passing around tapes. These could be anything from the latest releases to some unexplored classics. Once in a while a tape would circulate without any label. If it had already passed through a bunch of hands it could be hard to track down the artist(s) on the tape. A Tenor Saw tape made the rounds my senior year, but it took me nearly a decade to figure this out. It is much easier these days with the internets [sic] but I do miss the days of trying to track down artists.

Musical Youth - Pass the Dutchie

To my innocent ears in the early 80s, there was nothing wrong with passing the dutchie. Growing up in the cable era was really a bizzare experience. The wide variety of videos that were played help me build an ecclectic taste. Every once in a while it is nice to revisit summer's past.

XX Merge Day 5

It's all over. The final night of XX Merge was a classy one. The festival moved over to Memorial Hall, where our shoes didn't stick to the floor and sweaty t-shirts gave way to collared Polo's. Somehow it didn't seem appropriate for Clay and I to bring the beer koozies that we had been using all week at the Cat's Cradle...


Wye Oak opened with a really beautiful set... what great musicians. American Music Club followed with a strange but endearing performance. Mark Eitzel was accompanied only by piano and played crooning lounge club versions of songs from his back catalog, like "Patriot's Heart." She and Him closed out the night and the 5-day festival. M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel were backed by 4-member band which had a nice full sound. I was really impressed with Deschanel's voice... she really belted them out. In addition to hitting all of the brightest spots on their debut album they played 2 or 3 new songs that I can only assume will come out on She & Him, Volume II. They had 'em dancing in the aisles for the last few songs.


Another product of my temperamental camera...

All in all, we had a really great time. Seeing so many diverse and great musicians perform was a real testament to what Merge Records has been able to do for the past 20 years. Let's hope they never go away...

XX Merge Day 4

Day 4 kicked off with an outdoor afternoon show at the Orange County Social Club. We caught Music Tapes and Portastatic before deciding to walk around Carrboro/Chapel Hill for a little break from the action. Man, it was hot... We had dinner in the little bar room at The Lantern (tasty). After surveying the scene we noted that Mac, M. Ward and his band, Zooey Deschanel and Ben Gibbard were sitting right behind us...

As for last night's show at the Cradle, the lineup was Telekinesis, Erectus Monotone, Ladybug Transistor, M. Ward, Destroyer and Imperial Teen. Mathew Caws of Nada Surf filled in at lead guitar for Telekinesis. M. Ward played a really energetic and great set. He rolled out a few covers, including "I Get Ideas" (Louis Armstrong), "You Say It's Your Birthday" (Beatles) and of course "Rave On" (Buddy Holly), which is featured on his latest album:


Zooey Deschanel came out on stage for M. Ward's encore. Here's a pic I snapped:


It all wraps up tonight at Memorial Hall. We'll see if there are anymore surprises...

XX Merge Day3

The body feels like it's starting to shut down. It was another 3am arrival back in Greensboro after seeing sets by The Essex Green, Spent, Lambchop, Polvo, Pipe and Spoon. Although Spoon played a very solid set featuring an encore with Mac (see picture below), the highlights of the night were Lambchop and Pipe. They both played very energetic sets. You couldn't not dance during Lambchop and the beer was flying all over the place during Pipe. Today is a quick turnaround so that we can get back to Carrboro for the daytime show at the Orange County Social Club (featuring Portastatic) at 1pm. 11 bands in all on tap today...

XX Merge Day 2

Well, we made a bad decision on night #2. We were both exhausted and decided to hit the road back to Greensboro shortly after midnight. We missed one band and that, as we found out this morning, was Superchunk. We were both pretty bummed but Clay's seen them countless times and I've seen them twice in the past year alone. Oh well...

The bands we did see were The Broken West, Richard Buckner, Guv'ner, and the 3Ds. Buckner was the highlight. He's got one of my favorite voices of all time and this was my first time seeing him live. There were no breaks between songs as he bleed one into the next. In fact, I don't think he said one word. It didn't matter. It was transcendental...



Here's a picture that I snapped of Buckner last night...

XX Merge Day 1

The first night was a long one. We caught really good sets by Oakley Hall and The Rosebuds, and an amazing set by The Magnetic Fields. I've never been a huge fan of theirs, but they may have converted me last night. One of the funnier moments of the night happened in the middle of their set, when a flying cockroach started buzzing the members of the band. There were a few screeches by the ladies, but the band played on...



Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band took the stage around 1am and played a pretty rocking show, featuring a whole lot of foot stomping. They looked pretty road-weary (wink, wink), but were pretty tight considering. Here's a picture that I snapped...



We got back to Greensboro around 3:30 this morning. We recuperated with two sets of tennis, a quick dip in the pool and lunch down at Natty's. Four more nights to go...

Merge Week - She and Him - Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?

How was night 1?

Superchunk - Hyper Enough (XX Merge)

It all starts tomorrow... 5 straight nights of shows to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Merge Records in Chapel Hill. I'm not sure how my body will hold up but I'm ready to find out. The list of bands that'll be playing is too long to remember: Superchunk, Portastatic, Polvo, Spoon, M. Ward, She & Him, Richard Buckner, Lou Barlow, Telekinesis, American Music Club, The Magnetic Fields, Versus... it goes on and on. Then there are the rumors of a Neutral Milk Hotel reunion show and a surprise appearance by Arcade Fire (how could they not show?). My buddy, Clay, is flying in from New York tomorrow for one more music festival before we both take the plunge (he also weds in Sept.). In addition to spending countless hours at the Cat's Cradle, we plan to check on the Merge Cookout and Kick-ball Game on Friday and maybe we'll even tie a few on here in Greensboro.

I'm feeling "Hyper Enough" right now. I'm sure I'll be feeling "Kicked In" by Sunday...

Colin Hay - Beautiful World

Sometimes we need a reminder of the little things that make life pretty awesome.

My Morning Jacket - Librarian

Unfortunately when I first was introduced to this band it was at a time when I was inundated with new music. As a result, they got lost in the shuffle, quite literally. This summer I have had an opportunity to listen to them a little more and I think they will stay in my active rotation.

Bob Marley - Stir it Up

For me, summer playlists always include Bob Marley. I can remember in the summers before my 9th and 10th grade listening to Marley and enjoying the ease with which life came my way. Here is a younger Bob Marley stirring it up a little.

Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Happy

Man, I stumbled on this one. Anyone remember? The lyrics to this chorus are easier said than done: "If you fly off the handle, wait til I'm not there."

Santigold

I'm assuming that I'm not alone in saying that warm weather opens me up a little more to pop music. The perfect example would be R. Kelly's "Ignition (Remix)" during the summer of 2003. Who didn't smile just a little when that came on the radio? These days Santigold is filling that void. She's got a punk rock background and has worked with members of Bad Brains, The Strokes and N.E.R.D. Now she's all over the radio and featured in commercials for Bud Light Lime.

This first song, "Lights Out," was tailor made for the beach...


"Creator" is a little more adventurous and seems to take its cues from M.I.A...

Drive-By truckers - Decoration Day

Nothing like a good southern song about feuding. That's what life's like. Wish Isbell was still with them.

AC/DC - Thunderstruck

Marty, thanks for holding down the fort. I am back from vacation and ready to rock. AC/DC is one of those bands that seems rather timeless. They could be releasing this stuff today and it would be knocking people's heads off.

R.E.M. - Harbor Coat

I'm a little conflicted when it comes to reissues. Who wants to pay for something you essentially already have? Luckily Will hooked me up when it came to all of the Replacements reissues, and really, the improved sound quality of the remasters makes it all worth it. I was happy to hear that R.E.M. was remastering their catalog. The sound quality was down right awful on pretty much everything predating Out of Time. Buying the reissue of R.E.M.'s second album, Reckoning (1984), was a no-brainer considering I only ever had the cassette. Harbor Coat is one of the highlights...

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Down Boy

Making your Wednesday sexy...

Britt Daniel (Spoon) - Black Like Me

Here's a decent acoustic performance of a song off of Spoon's last full-length album. This song has a lot of good lines like "street tar and summer can do a job on your sole (soul?)" and "I spent the night in the map room, I humanized the vacuum." It reminds me a lot of our first full summer here in Greensboro... hard to believe it's been 3 years already. Spoon will be at XX Merge in a couple of weeks...

Sun Kil Moon - Gentle Moon

Mark Kozelek (a.k.a. Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon) has a pretty impressive back catalog. In addition to his own music, he's covered everyone from Will Oldham to AC/DC to Simon & Garfunkel. The highlights for me are Songs for a Blue Guitar (Red House Painters - '96) and the album this song is off of, Ghosts of the Great Highway (Sun Kil Moon, '03). He takes his cues from the usual Americana suspects, but none more than Neil Young. It's good rainy Sunday listening...

James Brown - Living in America

Happy 4th, ya'll!!

These colors don't run! Eat it, Drago!

My America Songs

A random sampling of what this country has to offer. From the good, the bad, to the socially conscious. It really is amazing to see the man perspectives.

The Neil Diamond Opus - Coming to America - featured in Born in East LA



Green Day - American Idiot - While I have problems with Green Day, I did think that this song captured a distinct period in our history.



Toby Keith - Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American) - American hubris at its best.

Wilco - Bull Black Nova

The new Wilco album just came in the mail on Monday, so I'm still sinking my teeth into it. There are plenty of feel-good rockers but this is the song that really sticks out after a few listens. I'm not sure what's going on with the lyrics but there's a lot of blood everywhere and something that can't be undone. This song could be on the soundtrack for The Tell-Tale Heart if only the old man with the "vulture eye" was dead in the trunk of a bull black Chevy Nova instead of under the floorboards.

My Favorite America Songs

With all the deaths of the past month--Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Don Edmonds, Karl Malden, and probably people I don't even know about yet--I'm glad for this holiday to remind me what's really important: I'm a freakin' American and everyone can suck on that!

My favorite America songs:





I find this song both hilarious and poignant social commentary....


Well, of course.....




and oh yeah......Danzig and Hank III playing on 6/6/06.....American Nightmare!!!!!