Black Lips get in fight/Those Darlins on YANP/Carl Sagan autotuned
September 28, 2009
You Ain’t No Picasso does a series of interviews called “My First Time With… (insert band name here).” His latest is with Murfreesboro/Nashville’s own Those Darlins. Check it out here. I was rather surprised to know that The Bang Up was Linwood’s first band… or that the first song he wrote was “Shoot that Girl”…. which was one of the best songs from his band the Turncoats. Actually there’s no way that’s the first song he wrote. Linwood, I’m callin’ bullshit on that one buddy. You don’t write a song that good your first time around. Besides, it’s not like this interview’s serious or anything….
Surprise surprise: The Black Lips got into a fight with WAVVES in Brooklyn. To be more specific, Jared Swilley was the one who actually got into it, but he denies the dude (Nathan) from WAVVES was even involved. I don’t understand why, but I’m eternally fascinated by the ridiculous situations those crazy Atlantans get themselves into…
For all the nerds out there, please check out this video of autotuned Carl Sagan clips/Stephen Hawking robot voices. I’m not sure if this is meant to be serious or not…
Protomen/Pansy Dance/beer
September 25, 2009
So tonight is the epic CD release show for The Protomen’s Act II: The Father of Death. Epic is an understatement, actually. We’re talking a full choir, and a full string section. Not to mention the 10-15 people already in the band. The super-dedicated fanbase of this band never ceases to amaze me. They are flying in from all over the country for this show. Oh, and it’s sold out… so if you don’t have a ticket you’re SOL.
HOWEVER, if you’re still itching for something to do, and don’t have a ticket, there is something else for you to do, and it happens to be pretty close by. Little Hamilton is hosting the 2nd official “Pansy Dance” party, featuring DJ’s Kid Chicago and me (Burgers). I’ll be scooting over there right after the Protomen show’s over (around 1-ish) to DJ till the wee hours. So if you don’t have a Protomen ticket, just come, and if you do have a ticket, come over afterwards and dance the night away!
Some other random music tidbits:
Wayne Coyne is pretty crazy. And he likes to call people in other bands dicks. And he also likes naked people on bikes. So maybe he just likes the word “dick” in various usages. I saw their movie Christmas On Mars this past weekend, but I wasn’t on any kind of drugs so that must why I thought it was kinda pointless and needlessly weird. I still like the Flaming Lips though.
Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge were all in a movie about guitars called It Might Get Loud. It’s playing at the Belcourt Sept. 25th through Oct. 1st. Read the Scene’s Patrick Rodgers’ take on it here.
My first batch of home-brewed beer turned out pretty decent, in case you hadn’t seen my twitter and facebook posts about it. I’ve actually given a good chunk of it away already, but I have about 20 bottles left. It’s a pale ale, and while it’s not exactly wonderful, it’s not bad for a first batch. The hoppiness is a little off- rather than a pleasant, crisp, refreshing bitterness it has a slightly unpleasant bitterness that sort of wears out your palate by the time you finish the beer. But I’ve discovered that drinking it with a meal greatly diminishes that effect and creates an overall pleasant beer experience. I’ve got a batch of cream ale in the fermenter as we speak, and it should be ready in a few weeks. It should be a much better batch because I used filtered water to make everything.
Also, Caitlin Rose officially approves of “Steve Cross’s attempted pale ale.” I’m thinking she should be the official spokeswoman. Just watch this video on facebook. (You’ll have to login to watch it…)
Ben & Zooey married/Next Big Nashville stuff
September 23, 2009
I wish I could post more often, but I just don’t have as much time now that work is really busy again, both at Vandy and the photography stuff. Sorry kids. Posting is going to be more like every-other day or every two days for a while.
Next Big Nashville got a little shout-out on Pitchfork today, as Nashville Cream points out. Kudos! I, along with Johnny Kingsbury and probably some others, have once again been hired by Jason and Co. to photographically cover the festival, so expect to see me running my ass off and loving every minute of it again this year.
Image via Nashville Cream
Also NBN-related is the Nashville Music Awards, which is being re-instated this year after last happening in 2000. It’s poll run by the Scene, and though I have no idea how they came up with the nominations, the voting is very simple: whomever gets the most votes wins. There were obviously some categories which I knew very little to nothing about, but the rules say that you must fill out each category for your ballot to be counted. So, go forth and vote! The awards will be presented on Wed. Oct. 7th at the Cannery Ballroom, as part of NBN. And if haven’t gotten your NBN tickets yet, you’re crazy. Go fix that right now.
So Ben Gibbard and Zooey Deschanel got hitched this past weekend. All you cutesytweeindie people can go cry for a while because the celebrity love of your life is now firmly wed.
Now enjoy this:
Via Clusterflock
Janet Timmons’ bday show at 5 Spot tonight
September 18, 2009
So tonight is Janet Timmons’ birthday bash at the 5 Spot. Not only is there a cool lineup, but it’s also FREE, and I’m spinning hot jamz (as Burgers) before and between bands. Let it be known that My So-Called Band is a 90’s pop cover band made up of Dave Paulson (the Privates, ex-Pink Spiders), Keith Lowen (the Privates, Comfies, De Novo Dahl, lots of other good bands), and Sam Smith (current Ben Folds drummer, also from the Comfies). With that awesome lineup of awesomely talented musicians, this is going to be totally awesomely awesome. Did I mention it will be awesome? Oh and if you don’t know who Janet is, you should, because she hosts a great radio show on 91.1 WRVU called Out The Other. She’s also been appropriately dubbed “Nashville’s official local rock cheerleader.”
There are lots of good things going down this weekend, but I’m kinda tired and don’t have much time right now, so for a good list of shit to do, go check out the Nashville Cream’s weekend round-up post.
I hope to see you tonight, and have a great weekend!
New Rocksellout/Pavement Reunion/Caitlin Rose video
September 16, 2009
I’ve known Brock Sharp for quite a while now, ever since he was involved with Vacant Cage Records back in the mid 2000’s. They folded back in ’07 and since then he’s been doing all sorts of random music-related things, including starting the Dig For Fire Agency with me. Just last week he was offered the opportunity to take over the music blog Rock Sellout. He agreed, and now it’s up and running again under his command. So go check it out. I may even end up contributing to it some in the future.
Tonight Those Darlins will be joining the Dexateens, the Rustlanders, and Band of Heathens at Mercy Lounge for an Americana Music Awards showcase. They’ll also be joined by a super-secret special guest, and based on the Nashville Cream’s hints and the AMA website, I’m pretty sure it’ll be John Fogerty.
In case you’ve been under a rock the past few days, the long-rumored Pavement reunion is definitely, absolutely, 100% happening. I knew there was something to that 5 Spot almost-reunion-show for Bob N.’s wedding. Maybe they’ll either A) play in Nashville, or B) play at SXSW next year. Or both?
It should be no secret that I’m the world’s biggest Mythbusters fan. That’s why I’m very excited about some of the topics covered in the upcoming season, which debuts October 7th. Can you build a sailboat out of duct tape? Or a cannon? Does a muddy car really get better gas mileage than a clean one? (WTF?) And the one I’m most interested in: does having multiple drinks with various liquors give you a worse hangover than sticking to one liquor all night? If the episode tackling that one is half as funny as the one testing other alcohol/sobriety rumors, then it’s gonna probably end up being one of my fav episodes of all time. CAN’T. WAIT. (Via Gizmodo)
I’ll leave you today with this video containing various drunken antics and a few performance clips from Caitlin Rose’s trip to the Monolith Festival at Red Rocks, CO. Wish I could’ve gone!
Pet Sounds a capella/BFF TONIGHT!
September 11, 2009
This one of the most interesting ideas I’ve ever seen. The guy took out all the instrumental parts from the Beach Boys’ epic masterpiece Pet Sounds, leaving only the lead vocals and vocal harmonies (basically an a capella version of the album). The result is fascinating. This is one of my favorite albums of all time and this sheds a whole new light on the vocal parts. It exposes some of the intricacies that get lost in the layers and layers of instrumental parts present on the album. Here’s the classic hit Wouldn’t It Be Nice: (Via SnarkMarket)
Carles of Hipster Runoff shares his opinions about the Beatles Guitar Hero game and Pitchfork’s review of the re-issues that came out this week. Seriously Pitchfork… why the hell did you review the Beatles’ re-issues? It seems utterly pointless. There is absolutely no question about the quality and relevance of these albums. They’re the most influential band in the history of popular music. End of story. No need for reviews. Enough has been written about them already.
Finally, I must include one more plug for my DJ event tonight. You will come. You will have a good time. You will dance & drink the night away. You will thank us for putting on such an awesome event. FYI- park up and down Woodland.
New WOTT mix/POBAH/BFF update
September 9, 2009
Wow. Waaay too many abbrevs in that title.
Ok so there aren’t really any updates for BFF, I’m just shamelessly plugging it. And also pointing you over to Fan Fiction’s blog where he plugged it as well. Be sure to check out the mix he did for Justin Kase’s blog Blogging Is Serious Business. That’s just a taste of the goodness he has to offer for your dancing pleasure this Friday night. Also check out my (DJ Burgers) latest mix SUMMERMIXXXX09. It starts off a little more pop/rock-oriented than anything I’ll spin Friday, but the latter 1/2 should give you a good idea of what I have to offer. Remember- it’s totally FREE, 18+ and at Mad Donna’s (1313 Woodland St.) upstairs lounge. We promise to love you long time.
We Own This Town has just posted a new mix for your downloading/listening pleasure. Go grab it now. It features some great new tracks from the likes of Turbo Fruits, Kindergarten Circus, and The Nobility, plus many more.
Speaking of great local bands, The Protomen officially released their long-awaited new album Act II: The Father of Death on Amazon MP3 and iTunes yesterday. It’s been doing AMAZINGLY well on both. But it peaked at fucking #8 on the Amazon download charts, competing with the likes of Phish, Kings of Leon, etc… Mind. Blown. Be sure to come out to their official album release party on Sept. 25th at Mercy Lounge. It will likely be the most epic thing ever to happen at Mercy Lounge. We’re talking the band plus a full string section and choir, playing both their first album and Act II: The Father of Death, in their entirety. Not to be missed. Then head over to Little Hamilton afterwards to this other party I’m DJing with Kid Chicago. More on that when it gets closer.
They Might Be Giants have released DVD children’s album called Here Comes the Science. Naturally I’m quite happy about this since it involves the two things this very blog is about. i09 posted several videos of songs from the album and it’s absolutely delightful. These guys have a long-proven record of being absolutely masterful songwriters, and to combine that kind of skill with the mission of educating our children about reality just makes me ecstatic. If I ever have kids, their first gift will be a boxed-set of all the TMBG children’s albums. John and John, you are my HEROES!!!! Check out Science is Real below, and check out the i09 post for even more.
BFF to hit east Nashville/Support Ben Harper
September 3, 2009
It’s a little last-minute, but that’s how everything’s been going these past few weeks…
I’m proud to announce a new indie/electro dance night in east Nashville. It’s called “BFF” and features DJ’s Burgers (me) and Fan Fiction (aka Joseph Howard who runs the awesome NashvilleNights blog). It’s gonna be at Mad Donna’s (1313 Woodland St.) on Friday Sept. 11th. There’s NO COVER and it’s 18+. East Nashville hasn’t had any dance nights of this genre to my knowledge, so FF and I put our heads together to create our own. We want to make it a monthly or maybe bi-weekly gig, but this is the first one so we’ll see how it goes. Please do come check it out. All the credit for the catchy name and flyer design goes to Joseph. We’re gonna dance to bloghouse like it’s 2k7, y’all…
I’m sad to report that Benjamin A. Harper (the one from Feable Weiner, The Comfies, and The Nobility) had his house broken into and all of his music gear stolen yesterday. As a musician I really sympathize with him on this and it hurts to see such a good person have to loose so much. Unfortunately he wasn’t insured and replacing that equipment would be virtually impossible. But you can help him out through a wonderful service called Fundable. Go here to donate some cash to his fund, and only if he reaches the magic $2500 mark will your credit card/paypal be charged. Please help this man out! He deserves it!
Oh, and apparently Jack White and Keith Richards are working together in the studio. WTF?
POWERBRRRD debut tonight at Mercy Lounge
August 31, 2009
Hey people. I’ve been slacking lately… mainly because work/life/everything got 150% busier over the last couple of weeks. But I’m taking 5 min today to make sure you know about two awesome things.
Tonight is the official debut of POWERBRRRD, my new band. We’re playing the 8 off 8th at Mercy Lounge hosted by Ashley Spurgeon. We’re celebrating her birthday (which also happens to be the day Caligula’s birth…). It’s still Seth Graves and me, but we’ve added Brandon Jazz from the Armed Forces to the lineup. Josh is still around, but about to be a new daddy, so at the moment we’re a power trio while he focuses on family. Josh’s mojo will be added back into the mix soon enough. Our sound is really nothing like Tigers Con Queso, so wash any preconceptions you may have based on the old band. The only similarity is Seth’s voice. So please do come down to Mercy Lounge tonight. It’s FREE, and will feature other acts such as Daniel Pujole and Some Beaus (former Meemaw frontman), Denny and the Jets (members of Meemaw and JEFF), Max and the Wild Things, Electric Mayhem (Matt Friction, Dave Paulson, and some others…), and Gunslinger. A good time is guaranteed.
The other awesome thing to report is that I made a trip to All Seasons on saturday and picked up my first home brewing kit. Yesterday we did the boiling/brewing process and the fermentation has now begun. The recipe I used was for an American-style Pale Ale, so hopefully in a couple of weeks I’ll have a ton of beer to give away.
New Weezer song/Next Big Nashville
August 26, 2009
If you know me at all you know that I will always be a huge Weezer fan. Rivers Cuomo and Kurt Cobain shaped my childhood more than you can imagine. Hell, I practically learned to play guitar by learning almost every song on the “Blue album” and Pinkerton. It’s widely accepted that Weezer has been in a downward spiral post-Pinkerton. This has been a difficult pill for me to swallow, but I accept that they’ll never be what they used to be. All that being said, they have a new song streaming on their website and it doesn’t totally suck. But I said the same thing about the song “Pork & Beans” from their last effort the “Red album.” P&B is about as close as they’ll ever get to the Blue/Pinkerton-era sound, but the rest of that album was basically just as bad as Make Believe. I hope this is not the case with this next record, but at this point my philosophy for new Weezer material is “hope for the best, but expect the worst.” Seriously though, this new song “I Want You To” is worth a listen, at the very least. Stream it at their website.
Next Big Nashville is quickly approaching and it’s definitely time to buy your wristband or VIP badge. The pre-sale is already over, and ticket prices will only continue to rise as it gets closer. Go the website and order yours now! A partial lineup has been released and it includes some seriously heavy-hitters. Here are just a few:
Lucero
Jemina Pearl
David Vandervelde
Heypenny
The Protomen
American Bang
Madi Diaz
How I Became the Bomb
Howlies
Colour Revolt
The Non-Commissioned Officers
Mikky Ekko
Jeremy Lister
Phosphorescent
Cortney Tidwell
Caitlin Rose
Pico Vs Island Trees
The Clutters
The Scene had some glitches with their database, but they finally have the photobooth pics from the Nashville Cream party up. Check ’em out: Part 1 and Part 2.
It’s been a while since I mentioned Hipster Runoff. I highly recommend reading Carles’ take on the apparently resurgent trend of “sagging.”
Here’s an interesting chart showing the frequency of the most common elements/objects featured on the cover of fantasy books. Of course swords are in the lead, but I’m quite surprised that unicorns are dead last…. (Via Snarkmarket)
RIP Stacy Fleeman and Ted Kennedy.
steve cross loves music and science 