The only way this might have been OK is if it was the Gallagher who smashes watermelons...

A big “Get well soon” to Noel Gallagher, who has a possible broken rib and ligament damage after some jackass ran out of the crowd and shoved him onto his monitors during a show in Toronto on Sunday. To Noel’s great credit, he came back out with the rest of the band and finished the show after a brief delay before seeking medical attention, but what the fuck? There's a big difference between jumping onstage to promote your political views (anybody remember the “Soy Bomb” guy?) and jumping onstage to try to hurt somebody because you’re drunk and sad that you have a tiny penis. And Canadians call us the belligerent ones...

As fair punishment, security should have just thrown the guy in an interrogation room and let Liam go all Dark Knight on him.

I Predict A Riot

On a Saturday evening few months ago, I saw Ra Ra Riot at the Westword Music Showcase, and I don’t remember being all that impressed. Granted, it had been a long day of standing outside in the sun, and the crowds had been full of annoying douchebags who apparently only came to hold shouted conversations over the music, so my tolerance level was pretty low. I remember thinking RRR might have some promise, but I wasn’t really in much of a mood to give a new band a chance that day. Well, after listening to The Rhumb Line for the first time this weekend, I won’t make that mistake twice. This album has pretty much been on repeat since I downloaded it—at home, at work, on my iPod while I work out—and while I can’t exactly pin down what it is I enjoy about it so much, it really struck a chord with me. The closest I can come to describing their sound is like a darker Vampire Weekend without the Afro-Pop influence. The strings (in this case, violin and cello) are central to RRR’s sound, and I think that’s part of it for me. I’ve gotten into larger bands that use strings (like Arcade Fire and Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s) in recent years, and I’ve always loved Mark Mothersbaugh’s chamber-pop-ish scores to Wes Anderson’s films, so it makes sense that a large part of why I love Ra Ra Riot is that they seem to be influenced by all of that music, but have taken that influence to its next logical step.

I could go on, but I feel like I’m not coming close to doing the music justice with my description, so just have a listen for yourself.

“Dying Is Fine” (mp3)

“Ghost Under Rocks” (video)

Long Past Fashionably, Just Plain Late

OK, I’ve ignored this song for as long as I can, but every since Z-Trip brought down the house at Unconventional ’08 with MIA’s “Paper Planes,” I cannot get it out of my head. Who knew gunshots and cash register noises could make for such an unforgettably infectious chorus? Every time I hear it, I just want to dance around the room making pistols with my fingers (and except for rare occasions like VIP parties during Democratic National Conventions, I’m not much of a dancer). Also, it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that I didn’t pick up on the biggest summer jam until fall arrived. Alanis might call that ironic.

And just for fun, here’s the extremely NSFW Pineapple Express trailer that made “Paper Planes” the hit it deserves to be.

Work and Play

Last week, due to a last-minute illness of one of our regular writers, I blogged for work. It was an interesting experience. Not because it was new, but because in the four five years that I’ve been posting here, I’ve created a voice for this blog that I’m totally comfortable with—if I had to give it a name, I’d go with “geek snark” (or maybe gnark? sneek?). Even though I got the opportunity to write about a really amazing night of music, comedy, and dancing (2 of the 3 will seem quite familiar to regular readers of this blog), the assignment for work presented a challenge for me, because it didn’t feel like the blogging voice I’m used to would exactly cut it in the world of real reporting. (On the other hand, if you look at some of the other posts on Elevated Voices around the same time as mine, you’ll find several videos of a drag queen and a guy pretending to be French hunting “celebrities” around Denver, so “real reporting” is a term I use loosely.) I can’t say I’m 100% happy with the end result, and unlike this blog, I can’t go back and make unlimited edits, but I guess it turned out all right for a first effort. If there’s one thing I’ve figured out in the extremely limited writing I’ve done, it’s that I can at least do a decent job of mimicking other writing styles, so hopefully, I’ll get more chances to practice other voices beyond this one.

(And because I know she’s going to post a comment to this effect anyway, my friend Jenny has been telling me to try writing for other outlets for years now. It’s just taken me a while to figure out that she might actually be on to something.)

Recently

Another mix of stuff I've been listening to lately:

1. That’s All Right (Mama)… The Beatles
2. If Time Permits… Matthew Sweet
3. Soda Jerk… Buffalo Tom
4. Life On Mars?… David Bowie
5. Something In You… The Orange Peels
6. Just Blue… The Weepies
7. No Sunlight… Death Cab for Cutie
8. Constructive Summer… The Hold Steady
9. The Beauty of Gray… Live
10. 4:35 A.M… Gemma Hayes
11. Sit and Wonder… The Verve
12. Starman… David Bowie
13. Spreadin’ Rhythm Around [Lady Bug vs. Lady Day RR Remix]… Billie Holiday
14. My Revenge… Julie Ocean
15. Sequestered In Memphis… The Hold Steady
16. Remnants… My Morning Jacket
17. Took My Lady To Dinner… King Khan And The Shrines
18. Spiral Staircase… Kings Of Leon

Fantastic

I just started watching the second season of I’m On Setanta Sports, a brilliant puppet show starring Jose Mourinho that reminds me a lot of Genesis’ video for “Land of Confusion” back in the late 80’s. Honestly, you’re only going to find this funny if you’ve followed English football in the past 5 years, but Rooney and Sven leave me laughing hysterically every time.

Little Wing

This was one of the easier Alphabet mixes. Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing” is one of my favorite songs, and since I own more than 20 versions of the song, it was just a matter of picking the best ones and fitting them on a CD.

1. The Jimi Hendrix Experience
2. Derek And The Dominos
3. Gil Evans & The Gil Evans Orchestra
4. Sting
5. Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
6. Skid Row
7. The Corrs
8. Pearl Jam
9. Vitamin String Quartet
10. Jenn Adams
11. Concrete Blonde
12. South Austin Jug Band
13. Tak Matsumoto
14. Mark Selby
15. Eric Steckel Band

Falling Down

New Oasis. Noel singing lead. My day has been officially made.

Just Browsing

This is why I love the interwebs. I found this photoblog, Delineated.com, while clicking links on my Last.fm profile. Turns out one of my neighbors (meaning, she has a very similar playlist to mine) my friend's friends is a photographer in Toronto. The blog seems to be more miscellaneous stuff, but she also has a site of terrific concert shots, and I really dig both. After all, it’s not everyday I run across a photographer who likes to shoot old hotel signs and Bonnaroo.

Photo © Carrie Musgrave

Nick & Nora’s Infinite Playlist

This is high on my must-see list for the fall (in theaters October 3rd). Michael Cera rocks, and I feel strangely protective of the kid. Maybe it’s because whatever he’s in, I tend to feel his character’s pain and find myself wanting to impart some big brotherly advice to help him through the awkward spots. Not sure what I’d do with the whole “George Michael’s in love with his cousin” thing, though. That’s just weird.

And on a totally unrelated note, why does it seem like romantic comedies always get released in the fall? Is that a particularly romantic time of year? Why wouldn’t there be a bigger surge around, say, Valentine’s Day?