Tuesday, July 25, 2006

americanitis

congratulations to my good friend Will Kimbrough on today's official release of his stellar full-length Americanitis.

buy a copy, dammit. it's good, good stuff.

I remember walking into the Eric McConnell's studio (the same place where Loretta Lynn and Jack White recorded the Grammy-winning Van Lear Rose (and I have pics to prove it if'n you ask nice)) that very first day (a very cold President's Day in February 2005) to record.

feels like a long time ago, though I'm sure it feels even longer to Will.

and no, I didn't play on the record (though full federal disclosure laws compel me to reveal that I did contribute lyrics to the title track and one other tune). I was just there hanging out, getting cold, taking pictures and petting the dogs.

you know, trying not to get in the way.

but that story (such as it is) is for another time and place. if you want to read more now, follow the link to this lengthy but worthwhile feature on Will in last Friday's Mobile Press-Register.

in the meantime, toast a glass to Mr. Kimbrough for a job well done. and treat yourself by purchasing a copy of Americanitis (I'm serious; click the link now).

Saturday, July 22, 2006

dammit, it's Lou Pinella again

(see: mlb on fox)
because of a rain delay at Shea (yeah, we're a little soggy here, and somewhat cool - a good thing since about twenty blocks north there are tens of thousands of ConEd customers (tauntingly within sight of a major relay station) without power for close to a week), so we're receiving "bonus" coverage of the Cubs and the Nationals.

Pinella just described two home runs by Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez as "gargantuous" (which I suppose is an improvement over "good"). nevertheless, we'll soon be transcribing with the sound turned off.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Shea Hillenbrand adopts a child, then becomes little person (just like us!)

after missing four games with the Toronto Blue Jays (last Friday through Tuesday) to be with his wife when they brought home a newly adopted daughter, infielder Shea Hillenbrand went on a tirade (including refusing to sit in the dugout with his teammates during Wednesday's game) because Blue Jays management had yet to offer warm wishes.

"Not one person from the front office has even come up to congratulate me," Hillenbrand told the press during the game. "It's all the little people like you guys. But nobody from higher up. That's a disgrace."

by the ninth inning, however, Hillenbrand had joined the ranks of the normally paid (maybe even the not paid at all) when he was released by the club.

Lilliput awaits!

(btw, congrats to Jessica and Shea Hillenbrand on the recent addition to their family)



last book read:
Fool The World - The Oral History of a Band Called Pixies

currently listening to:
Say Hi To Your Mom - Impeccable Blahs
Josh Rouse - Home
The Handsome Family - Last Days of Wonder
Paul Burch - East to West

Thursday, July 13, 2006

the director's cuts

here's the director's cut:

Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys
Turntable Matinee
(Yep Roc)

Used to be all America had to worry about was whether Elvis’ shaking hips would lead to premarital promiscuity or if the (relatively) long locks of four musicians from Liverpool might contribute to a breakdown of the country’s moral fiber. Of course, there was also the threat that godless Communists might bypass the Cold War standoff and send over “The Big One” to obliterate half the country. At school, kids would scramble under their desks at the first blaring note of the Civil Defense siren (because, you know, that desk would protect you from a nuclear blast, kind of like duct tape protects us from terrorists now). Once they got home those very same children would dig tunnels to China (even though Communists lived there too), and when their little arms got tired they would bury time capsules so that future generations could retrieve from the earth just a little slice of American life.
Future generations could do worse than excavating Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys, voluntary stowaways in a fifty-year-old chronological vacuum. After a dose of understandable confusion in “Power of the 45” (Mommy, what’s a 45?), prospective progeny might travel back to a time when country music was still country music (unless it was Western swing), through old school R&B horns in “Slippin’ Away,” a Beatlesque guitar lick in “The Great State of Misery,” the cowpoke push of “Ruby Jane” and the sweetest steel guitar you’ll ever hear on an ode to high heels with a naughty streak (“Haunted Heels”), all delivered with warm and guileless vocals, a testament of accomplished traditionalists - without that pesky nuclear cloud.

the summer storm currently over nyc

has yet to abate. which didn't keep me from sticking my head out the window for a cigarette because, really, how long are you supposed to wait? (it's been raining for hours)

Restaurant Week (which is actually two weeks twice - once in winter and once in summer) is officially over for me (at least until next week).
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday meant Gotham Bar and Grill, davidburke & donatella and Eleven Madison Park respectively.

at Gotham I had the Chilled Cauliflower Soup, the Mezze Rigatoni with Duck Sausage and the Gotham Chocolate Cake (like you really care, right? and yet I seem to be continuing). at davidburke the Lobster Bisque & Crispy Lobster Roll, the Chef Salad and the Carmelized Warm Apple Tart and at Eleven Madison Park the Grilled Watermelon with Tomatoes, Basil and Aged Balsamico, the Poached Organic Poularde with Asparagus and Black Truffles and a Chocolate-Banana Souffle with Peanut Butter Ganache and Roasted Banana Ice Cream.

amen.

all three restaurants were delightful in decor (I'm sure that's plagiarized from somewhere - hi Ann Coulter), splendid in service (to a point - read on) and yet the tendency of Restaurant Week menus appears to most often short change the entree portion (see: Tuesday's Chef Salad at davidburke & donatella - the other choices were a Cavatelli with Mushrooms and a Salmon dish. at Gotham the only other entree choice besides the Rigatoni was a Mahi Mahi), though Eleven Madison Park offered at least four choices in each of the three menu areas.

the best appetizer (with proper attention to the attending Crispy Lobster Roll at davidburke) was Eleven Madison Park's Grilled Watermelon.
best entree: Eleven Madison Park's Poached Organic Poularde (why am I eating chicken at a fancy restaurant? because my lunch partner ordered the Scallops first, the chicken was recommended and deservedly so)
best dessert: the Carmelized Warm Apple Tart at davidburke. while certainly no chocolate cake at Vong, for an apple tart it both rocked and rolled.

(yes, I'm well aware that I've written shorter short stories than this Restaurant Week recap - hang in there, baby! Friday's coming)

overall winner would be Eleven Madison. and it would've been a hands down, knockout landslide butt kicking (though the other two establishments are recommended) if the dessert had been served within even ten minutes of our entree plates being cleared. but it wasn't. and then it wasn't again. and finally I had to ask the server, So, um, we've got a dessert coming, right? to which he kind of chuckled and said something about Restaurant Week, as if the kitchen had just realized (by the way, we ordered the dessert at the very beginning of the meal).
I'm going to guess 25 minutes between entree and dessert, though 20 minutes would be a guaranteed slam dunk (not to be confused with WMDs).

Tuesday night was Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint (with The Imposters and The Crescent City Horns) at the Beacon Theater. and having seen the headlining pair at a very small gathering just a couple of months again, I wasn't all that anxious at revisiting the performance (it was wonderful, don't get me wrong - but much in the way of New Orleans gospel-flavored compositions and I've had enough for now, thank you very much) but I'm now quite glad I went.
it seems Mr. Toussaint had gone to the trouble of rearranging many of Mr. Costello's older tunes, so even if you'd heard them recently (and that's none too likely) you probably hadn't heard them like this. "Alison" (though the closing segue to "Tracks Of My Tears" was nice) didn't really gel but "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down," "Watching the Detectives," "(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea," "Pump It Up," "Tears Before Bedtime," "High Fidelity" and "Clubland" were each something special.

wanna t-shirt? $35

a hoodie (it's fricking July, man. are you kidding me?): $60

this week's pubs:
the Camera Obscura review was reprinted in Houston Press, a new review of the Johnny Cash DVD, The Man in Black: Live in Denmark 1971 appeared in Cleveland Scene, as did a preview of the Rob Zombie show and a new review of Big Sandy's Turntable Matinee appeared in New Times Broward-Palm Beach.
director's cuts (purely for the purpose of educational comparion/contrast essays) to follow at a later date.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

this week's pubs

the Camera Obscura review was reprinted in Houston Press, a new review of the Johnny Cash DVD, The Man in Black: Live in Denmark 1971 appeared in Cleveland Scene, as did a preview of the Rob Zombie show and a new review of Big Sandy's Turntable Matinee appeared in New Times Broward-Palm Beach.

here's the director's cut:

Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys
Turntable Matinee
(Yep Roc)

Used to be all America had to worry about was whether Elvis’ shaking hips would lead to premarital promiscuity or if the (relatively) long locks of four musicians from Liverpool might contribute to a breakdown of the country’s moral fiber. Of course, there was also the threat that godless Communists might bypass the Cold War standoff and send over “The Big One” to obliterate half the country. At school, kids would scramble under their desks at the first blaring note of the Civil Defense siren (because, you know, that desk would protect you from a nuclear blast, kind of like duct tape protects us from terrorists now). Once they got home those very same children would dig tunnels to China (even though Communists lived there too), and when their little arms got tired they would bury time capsules so that future generations could retrieve from the earth just a little slice of American life.
Future generations could do worse than excavating Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys, voluntary stowaways in a fifty-year-old chronological vacuum. After a dose of understandable confusion in “Power of the 45” (Mommy, what’s a 45?), prospective progeny might travel back to a time when country music was still country music (unless it was Western swing), through old school R&B horns in “Slippin’ Away,” a Beatlesque guitar lick in “The Great State of Misery,” the cowpoke push of “Ruby Jane” and the sweetest steel guitar you’ll ever hear on an ode to high heels with a naughty streak (“Haunted Heels”), all delivered with warm and guileless vocals, a testament of accomplished traditionalists - without that pesky nuclear cloud.

oh, by the way, which one's pink?

the late Syd Barrett's five solo albums continue to fly out of Amazon warehouses across the country (well, maybe not fly since Madcap Laughs is subject to a 6 to 11 day shipping delay, but the orders are certainly piling up).

The Radio One Sessions, Opel, Wouldn't You Miss Me? The Best of Syd Barrett, Barrett and The Madcap Laughs all now rank in Amazon's Top 500 sales coming in at #460, 398, 338, 129 and 71 respectively.

meanwhile the 38-year-old Pink Floyd album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn currently holds the #10 spot behind Thom Yorke's The Eraser, Johnny Cash's American V: A Hundred Highways, the Dixie Chicks, Gnarls Barkley, Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris, the soundtrack to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bruce Springsteen and Corinne Bailey Rae.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

the commerce of death

just a couple of hours ago it was announced that Pink Floyd founding member Syd Barrett passed away, most likely last Friday. he was sixty years old.
after writing most of the band's first album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Barrett, of course, quit the group in 1968 following a likely drug-induced breakdown and lived a reclusive life in his mother's basement apartment in Cambridge.

not surprisingly, sales of Barrett's solo output have now skyrocketed. Barrett has moved from #8647 yesterday to #208 in Amazon's sales rankings. Opel has moved from 53,914 to #889, Wouldn't You Miss Me? The Best of Syd Barrett from #58,519 to #343 and The Radio One Sessions from #77,251 to #541.

the hands-down winner, however, is The Madcap Laughs which finished yesterday at #31,220 and now stands at #146. whether the rise is due to its comparatively lurid title or the generally accepted belief that it is Barrett's best solo work is still unknown.

another recently announced passing is that of Commodores founding member Milan Williams. sales of Commodores albums appear unaffected.

God bless Syd Barrett and God bless Milan Williams.

Sunday, July 9, 2006

Jose Valentin

congrats to Jose Valentin, the accomodating focus of the "Day in the Life" chapter of The Shortstop, for racking up seven RBI (a career-best) with a grand slam and a bases-loaded triple in just the first two innings of yesterday's Mets' 17-3 victory over the Marlins.

Thursday, July 6, 2006

well, aren't you just all high and mighty

three pubs hit today: a new piece on Bouncing Souls manager Kate Hiltz (that's Kate getting smooched upon by singer Greg Attonito) in East Bay Express, a new piece on Camera Obscura in Independent Weekly and a reprint of a piece on the Drive-By Truckers in New Times Broward-Palm Beach.

Wednesday, July 5, 2006

is this thomas pynchon?

uh, no. it's another mysterious and shadowy NYC lit-type.

the vacation recap

ratio of absolutely gorgeous beach days to not so much gorgeous beach days: 1 in 9

postcards sent: six (three with a photo of Eva Hesse and three with a Ralph Eugene Meatyard photograph – sorry if you didn’t get one)

things I did on vacation that I don’t usually do on vacation: got a haircut, worked on a jigsaw puzzle (it was a really tough Simpsons puzzle, though), saw Everclear play at The Green Room in Seaside Heights, NJ

things I did on vacation that I usually do on vacation: read and wrote

books read while on vacation: Rednecks & Bluenecks by Chris Willman, Game of Shadows : Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports, Pixies' Doolittle (33 1/3) by Ben Sisario, The Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique (33 1/3) by Dan LeRoy, The Beatles’ Let It Be (33 1/3) by Steve Matteo (a re-read) and most of the upcoming Chuck Klosterman IV (“most” only because it’s a collection of previously published essays and therefore easy to start and stop)

musicians I wrote about while on vacation: Camera Obscura, Tommy Keene, Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys, Rob Zombie and Johnny Cash

pubs you probably missed while I was gone: a short interview with Bouncing Souls drummer Michael McDermott in New Times Broward-Palm Beach (scroll down)

Tuesday, July 4, 2006

bonus cuts (as in, post-vacation but still somewhat relevant stuffs)

song I’m thinking about writing: “My Spouse Says She Loves Me (But If That’s True, Why Is She Making Fun Of My Pants?)”

last DVD viewed: Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects

last “nice” restaurant: The Modern – Bar Room

our server’s name: Rebecca; she’s from Starkville, MS (still the most aptly named town in America)

last concert: see “Everclear at The Green Room in Seaside Heights, NJ”

next concert: Belle & Sebastian at Battery Park

the one after that: Camera Obscura at Bowery Ballroom

other stuff I’m looking forward to: interviewing Frank Black

still more stuff I’m looking forward to: interviewing Jack Hazan, director of Rude Boy, a film about The Clash

even still more stuff I’m looking forward to: the NYC visit of Cup of Coffee interviewee Larry Yellen and his wife Sybil

biggest surprise: the inordinate amount of stuff I’m looking forward to

happy fourth of july

why I'm up so early on a holiday: took a "nap" after dinner last night and forgot to wake up

what I missed: Edge becomes new World Wrestling Entertainment Heavyweight Champion

why: because former WWE Heavyweight Champ Rob Van Dam (Robert Alex Szatowski) got busted for eighteen grams of marijuana in Hanging Rock, Ohio after performing at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington, West Virginia the night before

Big Sandy Superstore Arena motto: "Where Memories Begin!"

upcoming Big Sandy Superstore Arena events: Riverfront Ribfest XI (mmm, Ribfest)

how this might possibly all tie together in a pithy package of personal irony: I spent a decent part of Sunday writing on a review of Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boy's upcoming Turntable Matinee CD and a decent part of Monday transcribing a Big Sandy interview

Big Sandy's connection to Huntington, West Virginia, the upcoming Riverfront Ribfest and former WWE Heavyweight Champ Rob Van Dam: none that I know of