Shows this weekend
March 25, 2011
There are some good shows to be seen this weekend in Nashville:
FRIDAY:
Jessica Lea Mayfield w/ Daniel Martin Moore @ Mercy Lounge. 9pm $10
Siberian Traps EP release w/ Casa Castille, Westfolk, and Jesse Payne @ The End. 9pm $5
SATURDAY:
The Coolin’ System album release w/ Unkle Skeleton @ The Basement. 9pm $5.
SUNDAY:
Surf City, Bare Wires, and Big Surr @ The End. 9pm $5.
That’s all I got. Have a great weekend.
Remember Grand Palace records in Murfreesboro? While Chuck and Bingham have kept the screen printing business going full steam-ahead, and Alex Norfleet kept the recording studio up and running, the record store, venue and label have all gone somewhat dormant. As a matter of fact, (most locals know by now) the whole operation is moving out of the charming old building on the square that’s been its home for the past 6 or so years. Word is they’re moving to Nashville, but that’s as much as I know.
The point of all this is that Rod from the awesome Boro-based band Bows and Arrows is working with some friends to revive the label portion and has some new releases planned for this year under the GP moniker. Leading up to it, his own band is releasing a series of free digital 7″‘s. Here’s the news straight from the horse’s mouth:
Us and Grand Palace Records have a bunch of really exciting physical releases planned for most of the year, and to lead up to them Bows and Arrows will be releasing a Digital 7″ every week and they will all be downloadable for free on our bandcamp page at the bottom of the email. This first Digital 7″ consists of two covers, “Leave Me Be” by The Zombies and “All I Wanna Do” by The Beach Boys. They were each recorded in a couple hours in the house our debut album is named after, 1010 Eaton Street. Side B features our roomates on vocals, electric guitar and bells. Future Digital 7″ releases will include more covers, demo versions of songs, brand new songs and collaborations with other artists among other things.
So do yourself a favor and go grab the new digital 7″ from their bandcamp, and keep an eye on all things Grand Palace. They’re back.
Post-SXSW laziness/photos
March 23, 2011
As predicted, I haven’t felt like blogging about much of anything these past few days post-SXSW. That festival/conference is literally one of the most draining things I’ve ever experienced. It takes me a good week to feel like going out or seeing shows again. That being said, I did have a blast and took a lot of photos for both the Nashville Scene and LEO Weekly. Check those out here and here, respectively. We also stayed at the same awesome little house that we’ve had the past 2 years, in the Travis Heights area just south of downtown. The laws regarding odd pets are pretty lax in Austin, and the dude who owns the house takes advantage of it. The first year he had a few chickens in the back, which was interesting enough. Last year he had nothing. But this year, he had chickens and GOATS. I believe he said they are Norwegian pygmy goats. Behold:
Also of interest- photographer Ryan Muir took some interest on-the-spot portraits of various bands at SXSW this year, all of which can be seen on Stereogum.
No posts for a few days: I’m gonna be at SXSW
March 15, 2011
It’s that time of year again. It’s time for my 3rd annual trip to SXSW in Austin, TX, so posting will mostly likely not resume until next tuesday or wednesday, depending on how exhausted I am afterward. Please do keep an eye on the Nashville Cream as my photos and my fellow-Creamers’ stories from our adventures will be posted daily.
First of all if you haven’t donated to the Red Cross relief efforts in Japan, do it RIGHT NOW by texting “RED CROSS” to 90999. It’s only $10 and I don’t care how fucking broke you are, you can afford to give $10 to help people who have it WAY WORSE. And all you have to do is send a couple texts. They take it out of your phone bill.
There has been a lot of speculation about this quake being caused by the “supermoon.” That is absolute bullshit. Click those words for three different stories from very reliable and respected sources for detailed explanations as to why the moon didn’t cause this quake. In short- the moon’s orbit is elliptical, so it’s distance from earth varies over a 2-week period. When it’s closest we call it perigee, and when it’s farthest it’s called apogee. When the full moon happens to coincide with perigee, we call it a supermoon, because this full moon will appear just a tiny bit bigger than the rest because the moon is at it’s closest. The phase of the moon (how much of it is lit by the sun) cannot have any effect on earth whatsoever beyond the fact that a clear, full moon-lit night will be a little brighter than a clear, new moon-lit (unlit) night. What does have some effect on earth is the moon’s gravity (which causes tides), which is understandably just tiny bit stronger at perigee. If those tiny fluctuations in the moon’s gravitational tug had any effect on earthquakes we would see it every TWO WEEKS because that’s how often the moon goes from perigee to apogee! Again, for more info click those links above.
One thing that is based on scientific fact is that the quake altered the length of one day, and shifted the Earth’s figure axis. The changes are so minute that they are completely insignificant, but interesting nonetheless. According to computer models, Earth’s day is about 1.8 microseconds (millionths of a second) shorter and the Earth’s figure axis moved by about 6.5 inches (17 centimeters). These changes are tiny compared to normal fluctuations of the both of these measurements over a year’s time, however. Both the length of a day and the position of the Earth’s figure axis fluctuate yearly by a margin greater than the amount the earthquake changed them. So, this is nothing to worry about, but it’s still amazing. (Via Universe Today)
I must also point out that Boston Globe’s Big Picture blog, as always, has an amazing collection of stunning photos from the aftermath. Definitely a must-see.
Good shows this weekend in Nashville
March 11, 2011
Wow, this weekend has a lot to offer in the way of good music to see. That’s partially because a lot of bands are gearing up to head to Austin next week for SXSW, but hey, we’ll take it. Here’s a quick rundown:
FRIDAY:
The Non-Commissioned Officers album release show w/ Cortney Tidwell and Kyle Andrews @ Mercy Lounge. 9pm $12 to get CD, $7 w/out CD. Stream their entire new album on their facebook page.
JEFF the Brotherhood w/ King Tuff and Diarrhea Planet @ The Other Basement. $5 all ages, 8pm. For a free King Tuff mp3, check out Nashville’s Dead.
The Clutters, Slick, Dirtbot, the Black Faces @ the 5 Spot, 9pm $5.
SATURDAY:
Duh. Come to La Paz for La Paz Late Night presents: ROBO BOOGIE. As I said yesterday, it’s $2 w/ robot outfit, $3 w/out, and Potamus, Vitalic Noise & I will be spinning 80s and other robo-tastic jams all night.
Those Darlins, Denny & The Jets, D. Watusi @ the Basement. *YOU MUST PRE-ORDER THOSE DARLINS’ NEW ALBUM SCREWS GET LOOSE THROUGH GRIMEY’S TO GET INTO THIS SHOW!*
Space Capone w/ Floorwalkers @ Mercy Lounge. 9pm, $10
A few other news tidbits in the music world:
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart now have their Flood-produced, Smashing Pumpkins-esque new album Belong streaming at their website. I haven’t listened to it yet as I’m glued to the news at the moment, but I’m cautiously optimistic.
Tristen’s video for the song “Baby Drugs” debuted on Rolling Stone yesterday. Seriously, go watch it. (Via Nashville Cream)
La Paz Late Night presents: ROBO BOOGIE
March 10, 2011
This Saturday Vitalic Noise, Potamus and I have cooked up another amazing party for you at La Paz. ROBO BOOGIE is going to be extremely 80s and extremely robo-tastic. It’ll cost you only $2 at the door if you come in some sort of robot attire, and $3 without. Seriously, just wear some silver lame or spandex, or an aluminum foil hat and we’ll let you in for $2.
On top of that, we’ll have our usual cheap drink deals- $2.50 PBR tallboys, $4 margaritas, and $2 jello shots. We’ll also have some robot/80s themed mixed drinks.
I’m also compiling a playlist of 80s visuals that’ll be shown on the wall.
RSVP on our facebook event here, “like” the LPLN facebook page here, and follow us on twitter @lapazlatenight. Also don’t forget that my new, 80s-tinged mix for spring 2011 is now up and available to download:
Seriously, this will be every bit as fun as our 90’s night was last month, so whether you’re with us all night or you make us your official afterparty, a good time will be had!
Credit: NASA
Space Shuttle Discovery touched down for the final time this morning just before noon at Kennedy Space Center. The shuttle has spent a total of 365 days in space and traveled a total of 148 million miles on 39 missions. It is the oldest shuttle in the fleet and has always been considered NASA’s workhorse. Universe Today has a post with a crop of great photos from this last mission, as does the NASA website of course. Some cool facts from my own knowledge as well as tweets from Astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson: the shuttle is traveling roughly 17,500 mph while in orbit, but it’s de-orbit thrusters slow it by only 188 mph. That’s enough to allow it to slowly drop into the upper reaches of earth’s atmosphere, at which point the air begins to take over the slowing process. The drag from the earth’s atmosphere is the only thing that slows the shuttle down from then on, including on the runway because the shuttle has no brakes, just a parachute that deploys just after it touches down. Everything in the re-entry process is meticulously calculated because they only have one chance at it. The shuttle has no power- it’s only a glider once back in the atmosphere, so everything has to be absolutely perfectly executed. The pilot is assisted by lots of powerful onboard computers that take care of most of the difficult fine-tuned adjustments, but the pilot must be able to take over if something goes wrong- the skill level required is immense. On April 12th, NASA is expected to announce the final destinations of the three remaining orbiters after their retirement. Discovery is expected to go to the Smithsonian, but that is not certain until the announcement is made. More on that at Space.com.
I feel I must also mention the alien bacteria craziness that happened over the weekend and earlier this week. NASA scientist Richard Hoover had a paper published that claimed that he had found evidence of extraterrestrial bacteria in a meteorite. Well, basically everyone else in the science community is saying he’s wrong, and I’m inclined to agree. There are a host of reasons why his claim is probably bogus, not the least of which is the fact that contamination of a meteorite by earthly bacteria is all but inevitable. Also, the paper had not completed a peer-review process before it was published, not to mention that it was published in a less-than-reputable journal that has a history of publishing error-laden work. NASA even issued a statement saying that they had nothing to do with Hoover’s paper or his claim. Most of this info comes from Phil Plait’s analysis of the situation. Get the whole story from him.
On a lighter note, enjoy this animated GIF gem, also from Plait’s Bad Astronomy blog:
Burgers: Spring 2011 Mixxxx
March 7, 2011
I decided to release my spring mix a little early, mainly to coincide with this weekend’s 80’s/robot themed La Paz Late Night– ROBO BOOGIE. Plus, we can all agree that spring could use a little encouragement to get the fuck HERE. This mix has a deliberate 80s tinge, for obvious reasons. Enjoy/download:
Tracklist:
Gabriell-Giovanotty
Golden Bug/Rodion ft. Lavina Claws-Washing Machine (Bottin’s Spin Cycle)
Breakbot-Shades of Black
Talking Heads-Girlfriend is Better (Bit Funk Edit)
Jensen Sportag-Everything Good
The Human League-Never Let Me Go (Aeroplane RMX)
Chilly Gonzales-You Can Dance (Robotaki RMX)
Cassian-Getting High
Tyson-Die on the Dancefloor (Mickey RMX)
Yelle-Safari Disco Club (HLM RMX)
Shows this weekend
March 4, 2011
As usual, I’m in a time crunch between work stuff.
As I mentioned Wednesday, Nashville’s Dead’s Freakin’ Weekend is happening all weekend, so go checkout their “Rundown” post about the lineups for that. If you aren’t inclined to see every night of the FW, here are some other shows I’d recommend.
FRIDAY:
The Nobility w/ Bravo Max, the Tendoor, and Overzealous @ the 5 Spot. 9pm, $5
The YEAH! Rock Block benefit show @ The End, ft. Kiddo. 9pm, 18+$5 donation (or however much you wanna give)
SATURDAY
Korean is Asian album release w/ Cortney Tidwell and The Lisps @ the 5 Spot. 9pm $5
Rocky Votolato w/ Matt Pond @ Exit/In. 9pm $12
steve cross loves music and science 