December 28, 2008
December 14, 2008
holy crap...duck!!!
yeah, that happened...i gotta say, as entertained as i am by this...i hope this guy is arrested and tried for assault...no matter how much i dislike george bush, he is the president of the United States...you might not respect the man, but the office deserves a certain level of respect...also...as i watch this i think...what a sad, sad man...
December 11, 2008
my year in music...2008...
thank goodness for pandora, emusic, and last.fm...my music life this year was far richer because of them...they introduced me to new music, allowed me to listen to free samples and made it easy to download and own the music i wanted...without any drm...
there are year end lists everywhere...and they're mostly the same...critics herd like everyone else...some bon iver...a little of the roots...a dash of beck...a sprinkle of gnarls barkley...nick cave & the bad seeds...maybe even some atmosphere...let's see if i can learn you some new...ish...flavors...
locally grown...
i've previously raved about eric shiveley's movie...everyone but you...
...even if he never bothered to buy a camcorder to record his extraordinary journey...the soundtrack he recorded stands alone as an excellent album...
don't just take my word for it...he's got an award to prove it...
eric's not the only one doing good work...andy ard is creating more excellent pop tunes...
and katey sleeveless is making an intriguing sound down in alamosa...
on the club tip...bobby collins is opening for Z-Trip the day after Christmas...if you have something else to do that night, cancel...kid just dropped his latest mix in my inbox...damn...good...stuff...here's a bite...
and here's one of the reasons why i love living in Denver...one friday night ms. scribe and i wandered into a bar on colfax and found ms. elizabeth rose entertaining a full room...there are so many undiscovered talents in this town...you never know when or where you might find someone new...
my favorites of 2008...
i have to be honest...i cannot stop listening to in rainbows...i managed to pry myself away from the radiohead classic long enough to stumble across three acts that just keep knocking my socks off...
Busdriver
even with multiple internet sources for finding music, there's a lot of stuff that i miss...especially in hip-hop...so it's no surprise that the best new rapper i heard this year came to me through word of mouth...a lot of mcs and djs like to claim their music has jazz roots...most of them just sample a funky jazz hook and call it a day...they don't really know what jazz is...much less what improvisation means... Busdriver is the real deal...his flow can shift from smooth to whimsical to angular and aggressive...and back again...Busdriver spits rhyme like Mingus plays bass...if you don't believe me...start with Cosmic Cleavage...if you like that, just go ahead and get everything else...i did...
The Dirtbombs
i enjoyed last year's Icky Thump, so i went digging around emusic for more White Stripes...and found a lot of great garage music...especially the dirtbombs...who go way beyond garage without straying from a pure rock and roll ethos...
i especially like that this is a rock band lead by a black man that doesn't make a big deal about it...and doesn't ignore it either...
i'll be blasting both these songs all day come January 20...
Bourbon Princess
by far this band has been my musical obsession of the year...and it's not just monique ortiz' sex kitten pose...well, it helps...it also helps that this band is firmly rooted in its previous incarnation as Morphine...one of my favorite bands of the 90's...as a matter of fact, they go even further back to the 80's as Treat Her Right...
let's put it this way...Nirvana was great, they encapsulate their time better than anyone else...but i don't miss them...i miss Morphine...almost ten years since Mark Sandman died and i still crave their music...just like a drug...yeah, there was Twinemen...but that left me unsatisfied...Bourbon Princess...and the newest incarnation, A.K.A.C.O.D....this is the good shit...and ortiz is at the center of it all...
lyrically, musically, whatever way you want to measure her...ortiz is a baaaaddasssss...it makes me sad to know that Denver might not ever get to see them live...BUY THEIR MUSIC...please...
well, here's my list:
my favorite new releases of 2008...
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)
The Dirtbombs - We Have You Surrounded
The Roots - Rising Down
Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Shelby Lynne - Just A Little Lovin'
Beck - Modern Guilt
The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
Otis Taylor - Recapturing the Banjo
Eric Shiveley - Everyone But You
Adele - 19
Johnson & Jonson - Johnson & Jonson
Go Home Productions - Spliced Krispies
Everlast - Love, War, and the Ghost of Whitey Ford
Alicia Keys - As I Am
Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
Saul Williams - The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!
The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement
BTW, i don't own it...yet...but i've listened to it and, the new Metallica rips ass... ...and you thought you knew me...
what were your favorites from this year...
there are year end lists everywhere...and they're mostly the same...critics herd like everyone else...some bon iver...a little of the roots...a dash of beck...a sprinkle of gnarls barkley...nick cave & the bad seeds...maybe even some atmosphere...let's see if i can learn you some new...ish...flavors...
locally grown...
i've previously raved about eric shiveley's movie...everyone but you...
...even if he never bothered to buy a camcorder to record his extraordinary journey...the soundtrack he recorded stands alone as an excellent album...
don't just take my word for it...he's got an award to prove it...
eric's not the only one doing good work...andy ard is creating more excellent pop tunes...
and katey sleeveless is making an intriguing sound down in alamosa...
on the club tip...bobby collins is opening for Z-Trip the day after Christmas...if you have something else to do that night, cancel...kid just dropped his latest mix in my inbox...damn...good...stuff...here's a bite...
and here's one of the reasons why i love living in Denver...one friday night ms. scribe and i wandered into a bar on colfax and found ms. elizabeth rose entertaining a full room...there are so many undiscovered talents in this town...you never know when or where you might find someone new...
my favorites of 2008...
i have to be honest...i cannot stop listening to in rainbows...i managed to pry myself away from the radiohead classic long enough to stumble across three acts that just keep knocking my socks off...
Busdriver
even with multiple internet sources for finding music, there's a lot of stuff that i miss...especially in hip-hop...so it's no surprise that the best new rapper i heard this year came to me through word of mouth...a lot of mcs and djs like to claim their music has jazz roots...most of them just sample a funky jazz hook and call it a day...they don't really know what jazz is...much less what improvisation means... Busdriver is the real deal...his flow can shift from smooth to whimsical to angular and aggressive...and back again...Busdriver spits rhyme like Mingus plays bass...if you don't believe me...start with Cosmic Cleavage...if you like that, just go ahead and get everything else...i did...
The Dirtbombs
i enjoyed last year's Icky Thump, so i went digging around emusic for more White Stripes...and found a lot of great garage music...especially the dirtbombs...who go way beyond garage without straying from a pure rock and roll ethos...
i especially like that this is a rock band lead by a black man that doesn't make a big deal about it...and doesn't ignore it either...
i'll be blasting both these songs all day come January 20...
Bourbon Princess
by far this band has been my musical obsession of the year...and it's not just monique ortiz' sex kitten pose...well, it helps...it also helps that this band is firmly rooted in its previous incarnation as Morphine...one of my favorite bands of the 90's...as a matter of fact, they go even further back to the 80's as Treat Her Right...
let's put it this way...Nirvana was great, they encapsulate their time better than anyone else...but i don't miss them...i miss Morphine...almost ten years since Mark Sandman died and i still crave their music...just like a drug...yeah, there was Twinemen...but that left me unsatisfied...Bourbon Princess...and the newest incarnation, A.K.A.C.O.D....this is the good shit...and ortiz is at the center of it all...
lyrically, musically, whatever way you want to measure her...ortiz is a baaaaddasssss...it makes me sad to know that Denver might not ever get to see them live...BUY THEIR MUSIC...please...
well, here's my list:
my favorite new releases of 2008...
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)
The Dirtbombs - We Have You Surrounded
The Roots - Rising Down
Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Shelby Lynne - Just A Little Lovin'
Beck - Modern Guilt
The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
Otis Taylor - Recapturing the Banjo
Eric Shiveley - Everyone But You
Adele - 19
Johnson & Jonson - Johnson & Jonson
Go Home Productions - Spliced Krispies
Everlast - Love, War, and the Ghost of Whitey Ford
Alicia Keys - As I Am
Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
Saul Williams - The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!
The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement
BTW, i don't own it...yet...but i've listened to it and, the new Metallica rips ass... ...and you thought you knew me...
what were your favorites from this year...
December 9, 2008
December 8, 2008
cocktail hour...Death in the Afternoon...
i'm not one for exotic alcohols...ouzo, sambuca, tuaca, goldschlagger, rumplemintz etc...so, i've been a little oblivious to the recent resurgence of absinthe...until i read about how one company is producing it here in the U.S...and then i found a recipe...if Papa Hemingway took absinthe seriously enough to name a drink after one of his books...(or understood the marketing value...that wiley Papa)...i decided this fancy spirit deserved further investigation...so, tonight's cocktail hour is dedicated to...Death in the Afternoon...
first i went searching for st. george...turns out, you can't just run down to the liquor store and grab a bottle off the shelf...go figure...they did have some other brands...with bottles that reminded of the bottles you sometimes find on the window shelves of fraternity houses...the bad old days...they did have Kubler...a label i did not recognize, but it's the Swiss...any country that only maintains an army for self defense can be trusted...right???
for the champagne, i made sure of two things...keep it small...ms scribe doesn't like the bubbly...and, no sparkling wine, brut, or prosecco...champagne...
materials secured, it's time to get to work...drinking...
as i write this i am half way through the glass...let's start with this...it is right and proper to have the word Death in the name of this drink...that's exactly what it tastes like...that may have something to do with my proportions...measuring tools...are...for...amateurs...right now my face is numb...and i keep catching myself touching my lips...an old habit from the XTC days...or maybe it's because my lips are tingling...
(this odd, stolen, clip just about replicates my experience...)
hmm...one glass of champagne never has this effect on me...i have to tip my hat to absinthe...there is certainly something to it...it warrants exploration...i just have to find a better way to drink it...i welcome any fellow curious travelers to join me...or offer suggestions...i've got a big bottle of kubler to share...
BTW, i am working on a year end review of my favorite music of the year...look for that sometime later this week...and if it sounds as goofy as this post...you'll know why...
December 7, 2008
December 3, 2008
117 years...still unparalleled...
yesterday was Otto Dix's birthday...pardon me while i take a moment to bask in his brilliance...
Small Self-portrait, 1913
born blue collar...to an artisan family...he joined the army and fought in World War I...
Suleika, the Tattooed Wonder, 1920
he came back and proclaimed himself a Dadaist...
Self Portrait with Naked Model, 1923
he made a name for himself as a portrait artist...
Unequal Lovers, 1925
at the height of his career, the Weimar Republic was waning...cosmopolitan Germany was caught in the wild duality of decadence and economic disaster...
Newborn Baby on Hands (Ursus Dix), 1927
Dix placed himself in the chasm...and observed...and painted...
what he did with pigment and canvas...has yet to be equaled...
Small Self-portrait, 1913
born blue collar...to an artisan family...he joined the army and fought in World War I...
Suleika, the Tattooed Wonder, 1920
he came back and proclaimed himself a Dadaist...
Self Portrait with Naked Model, 1923
he made a name for himself as a portrait artist...
Unequal Lovers, 1925
at the height of his career, the Weimar Republic was waning...cosmopolitan Germany was caught in the wild duality of decadence and economic disaster...
Newborn Baby on Hands (Ursus Dix), 1927
Dix placed himself in the chasm...and observed...and painted...
Vanitas (Youth and Old Age), 1932
what he did with pigment and canvas...has yet to be equaled...
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