Just

Where the “I” mix was all about me, this one’s all about the ladies.

1. Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine… The Killers
2. Judy Is A Punk… The Ramones
3. Jackie Big Tits… The Kooks
4. Jamie… Weezer
5. Justine… 120 Days
6. Jenni’s Song (1:00 AM)… Matthew Good Band
7. Josephine… Teitur
8. Jane (live)… Barenaked Ladies
9. Jayme Lynn… Béla Fleck
10. Jackson… Hem
11. Jenny Don’t Be Hasty… Paolo Nutini
12. Jezebel… Iron & Wine
13. Julia… Chantal Kreviazuk
14. Jessamyn’s Reel… Chris Thile
15. Jacqueline… Franz Ferdinand
16. Jenny… Stellastarr*
17. Jennifer Save Me… Golden Smog
18. Jenny Wren… Paul McCartney
19. Jolene… Mindy Smith
20. Judy And The Dream Of Horses… Belle & Sebastian
21. Julia… Mando Saenz
22. Jen Is Bringin The Drugs… Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s

Festivus (for the rest of us)

Summer approaches, and that means summer music festivals. I’ve got several options to choose from this year. I can stay nearby for the return of the Monolith Music Festival at Red Rocks (which was a great success, for me anyway, in its inaugural year but has yet to announce a lineup for this year) or the new, well-intentioned but somewhat mish-mash Mile High Music Festival at DSG Park. If I feel like traveling (which seems likely, since Radiohead has decided not to play a solo show anywhere within 1,000 miles of Denver), there’s the pretty spectacular lineup of this year’s Lollapalooza in Chi-town.

But as fun as festivals are, they also have their drawbacks. Weather (hot or wet), overpriced food and beverages, and general music fatigue from watching 30 or 40 bands over 2 or 3 days can sometimes make festivals a trying experience, not to mention the high prices promotoers can charge for gathering so many artists in one place. So to avoid all that, I decided that this year, I’m flipping the script and putting together a summer music festival the way I want it. To start, I’ve worked with different concert promoters to spread the bands out so that this is truly a “summer” festival. None of this BS 3-day nonsense. This puppy lasts four months (from May to September). By spacing the artists out this way, I avoid music overload, but get the privilege of paying the ridiculous food and beer prices on multiple occasions, not to mention getting to see a good number of the more disgusting bathrooms in the Mile High City. Plus, as an added benefit, this setup lets me give Ticketmaster a lot more of my money. And trust me, there’s nothing I enjoy more than paying an extra 50% on top of the ticket price in “convenience fees,” “venue fees,” “sales tax,” and whatever other bullshit those greedy bastards have come up with so that their fat fucking pig of a CEO doesn’t miss out on his $12 million bonus check this year.

Aaaaaanyway... I’ll be announcing more acts as they come along, but so far, I’m pretty excited about my lineup. (Confirmed means I have tickets, unconfirmed means I’m still debating.)

April 28: The Raconteurs @ The Fillmore Auditorium (I’m considering this a pre-festival warmup show—Unconfirmed)
May 2: Elbow @ The Bluebird Theater (Confirmed)
May 16: Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s @ The Larimer Lounge (C)
May 20: Sea Wolf @ The Bluebird (U)
May 29: The Kooks @ The Ogden (U
June 2: The Roots @ The Fillmore (U)
June 3: R.E.M./Modest Mouse/The National @ Red Rocks (C)
June 5: Rush @ Red Rocks (U)
June 14: Drive-By Truckers @ Westword Music Showcase (U)
June 21: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss @ Red Rocks (U)
July 21/22: The Police/Elvis Costello @ Red Rocks (U)

So far, so good. Rock ’n’ roll will never die. It just gets more expensive.

I, music fan

I’ve been crushed at work lately, but I finally had some free time this weekend to get back to reality. I did some serious spring cleaning to go with my seriously annoying spring cold, and got caught up on a lot of magazines and TV (Battlestar Galactica’s back!), but mostly I was able to sort through a plethora of new music. In turn, that motivated me to finally dust off the alphabet mixes, picking up with I. It’s always interesting to me how these mixes come together as I whittle down the playlists. In the case of this one, it became somewhat of an autobiographical mix: Everything here falls between the years 1983–1997, and the artists included all had some kind of impact on my musical tastes, guitar playing, and/or romantic life during that period. Really, it seemed rather natural that a mix of songs starting with “I” should be about me.

1. I Am One… Smashing Pumpkins
2. I Am Superman… R.E.M.
3. I Can Dream About You… Dan Hartman
4. I Can’t Wait… The Sundays
5. I Don't Think So… Dinosaur Jr
6. I Love You, What Are You?… Gene
7. I Remember You… Skid Row
8. I’ll Be Comin’ Around… The Bottle Rockets
9. I’ll Stick Around… Foo Fighters
10. I’ve Been Waiting… Matthew Sweet
11. If I Can’t Change Your Mind… Sugar
12. If You Leave… O.M.D.
13. In A Big Country… Big Country
14. In Bloom… Nirvana
15. In God’s Country… U2
16. In The Garage… Weezer
17. In The Valley… Midnight Oil
18. Into Your Arms… The Lemonheads
19. Iris… Live
20. It’s Only Love… Bryan Adams (with Tina Turner)
21. It’s So Easy… Guns N’ Roses

“You’re a... teacher?” “Part-time.”

Summer movie season, here we come. Ahead of its release on Memorial Day weekend, the first trailer for Indy 4 (OK, fine—Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Blech. That title sucks.) made its way to the InterWeb this week. As expected, it looks action-packed, and I appreciate the willingness to crack jokes at the expense of Harrison Ford’s age, but there’s a few things that worry me. I’m remaining cautiously optimistic, but that shot of a car chase along the edge of an obviously CGI-created cliff is concerning. One of the greatest things about the original trilogy is that the locations were always real, and the stunts always looked like they could actually happen. George Lucas’ obsession with computer-created movies better not ruin this franchise too.

But as long as this movie remains firmly focused on Indy as the main character, and doesn't just become a setup to extend the franchise with Steven Spielberg’s boy-crush Shia LeBouf, I'll be happy. Something else that makes me happy is that Karen Allen’s character Marion Ravenwood from Raiders of the Lost Ark is back. You can see her briefly in one shot, but she’s such a great character, I’m surprised they didn’t play up her return more. Maybe in the next preview.

Triple Threat

Editors, Hot Hot Heat & Louis XIV, Ogden Theater. As my friend Luc said last night, there's a reason you go to see bands live. I own both Editors albums, and had seen about half of their set at the Monolith Festival last summer, but none of those things in any way prepared me for their thunderous live sound. In a way, Editors are Coldplay’s evil twin. Both bands play moody Brit rock, and have lineups consisting of guitar/bass/drums and a hyperactive lead singer who alternates between guitar and piano. But while Coldplay set themselves firmly on the path to the mainstream by following in the footsteps of mid-80’s U2, Editors were burying themselves in darker 80's music—The Smiths, Joy Division, The Cure and Echo & the Bunnymen. Much like all of those bands, Tom Smith’s lyrics find the tragic beauty in the grand Romantic themes of love and death, while live, the band leans heavily on their rhythm section (something The Cure has always done to great effect). On Editors’ studio stuff and even when I saw them outdoors last summer, it was hard appreciate the power of their drums and bass, but in the Ogden last night, that solid underlying groove was impossible to miss. Plus, I love what this allows the lead guitarist, Chris Urbanowicz, to do with his instrument. He very rarely plays any chords, instead either playing chiming melody lines or ripping off squealing fills behind the melody, which creates a really interesting texture (and also increases the similarities to 80’s Goth). I said in my Monolith review that I was intrigued enough to want to see Editors in a different setting, and I'm glad I did. They put on a great show (although at 1 hour and 10 min including encore, it could have been longer). But with the two openers, it was a pretty solid night of music top to bottom.

I could say many of the same things about the sound of both Hot Hot Heat and Louis XIV. I had heard some of their studio stuff, but they sounded a lot heavier live. Louis XIV sounds like the bastard child of AC/DC, Kiss and David Bowie, while Hot Hot Heat made me consider the result if Rush had been into punk instead of prog rock. I don't know if either band made me a fan, but I'd certainly like to hear more of their stuff. The nice thing was, both of these groups have enough of a following that the theater was full and rocking for all three sets, instead of the small and half-interested or nearly silent crowds that usually show up for the openers. It always surprises me a bit to see what a difference an active crowd makes to my enjoyment of a band, but I guess that, too, is part of the appeal of seeing live music, and definitely a part of why I keep going to shows.

Speaking of which, this was show #92 all-time for me (yes, I’m anal enough that I have a list), and looking back, I’m happy to say that almost all of them have been enjoyable. I guess that makes sense, since I’m not likely to go see too many bands I don’t like, but you’d think there might be a few more bad nights or bands that just suck live. Happily, I’ve been pretty lucky. Anyway, stay tuned for some kind of special thing when I get to #100. Maybe I’ll give myself a special award or something... ;-)

Good to Be Kings

One of the first things I did after I bought my new TV and added the HD channels to my cable package was to set my DVR to record Austin City Limits. ACL has always had this legendary reputation, but it’s always been sort of a mystery to me. Despite the fact that some of my favorite artists have done incredible shows, I never remembered to watch it unless I happened to pass an episode while flipping channels. But thanks to my DVR, now I can see every new episode, and this season has definitely been worth it. For many years, ACL focused mainly on country and blues, giving the nod to local Austin acts whenever possible. But recently, they’ve begun to change their focus, booking younger and hipper indie bands. So far this year, I’ve seen sets from Wilco, Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, Explosions in the Sky, Paolo Nutini, and Ghostland Observatory. But the best so far was the band pictured above, Kings of Leon, who in just a few songs reminded me what an amazing live band they are.

I’ve seen the Kings live twice—a couple of years ago in Indianapolis at a small club, and last summer here at Red Rocks as part of the Monolith Festival—and both times, they’ve been fantastic. The Kings are pretty unassuming onstage. They don’t go for a lot a lot of banter or big fancy light shows; they just get up and play their songs (and play them well). Their music is a perfect blend of indie and Southern rock (think the Strokes meet Skynyrd), and it lends itself very well to a live show. When I saw them in Indy, they were there because they had a night off from a 3-night stint opening for U2 in Chicago and wanted to play somewhere that wasn’t a cavernous arena. They had the crowd of 500 rocking, and they sounded great, but I’m willing to bet their music sounded just as good in the United Center. It certainly sounded good at Red Rocks, where in my opinion, they were the highlight of the festival. If you’ve never heard their stuff, their ACL performance is a great place to start. PBS tends to rerun episodes fairly frequently, so check your local listings... or just set your DVR.

Other stuff I’ve been into lately:
There Will Be Blood. I had some issues with the story itself (I thought it was a little choppy and unfocused), but the combo of Daniel Day-Lewis and the score by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood made this movie an incredibly intense experience.

Lost: Season 3. This season seemed a lot better when taken in a just couple of chunks, rather than spread out over seven months. I’m definitely looking forward to the new episodes, even if we’re only getting 8 of them.

GarageBand. I’m not a DJ, but I play one at home.

Salem’s Lot, Stephen King. The first time I read this book, I was 13 years old and it scared me so bad, I wouldn’t go down in the basement by myself for a month afterwards. It wasn’t quite as scary this time, but then again, I don’t live in a big house in the woods anymore with the wind blowing tree branches against my window all night. Even so, it’s still a terrific read, and it made me remember why I got so into King in the first place.

In Rainbows, Radiohead. Still amazing every time I listen to it. I’m just as excited by it as I was when I wrote this.

What A Year For A New Year

As a whole, I can’t say I’m sorry to see 2007 go. But at least it ended well. I had no problems traveling around the holidays, got to spend some quality time with the fam, slept a lot, ate a lot, and got some great Christmas presents. In fact, I’m using the biggest one to create this post. (Thanks, Mom and Dad and Christmas bonus check!)

As for the media/entertainment-type stuff, I’d say I did all right:

Raising Sand, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
El Corazón and Washington Square Serenade, Steve Earle
3D, Casey Driessen
The Song Remains The Same [Remastered and Expanded], Led Zeppelin
The Terror, Dan Simmons
The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, Alex Ross
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier, Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill
Lost: Season 3

Not too shabby. I also saw The Golden Compass while I was home, which was OK, but not amazing. I think I suffered from having read the book, because I sent the whole time comparing and not just watching the movie. As is usually the case, the book is better.

The Eagles Are Coming, The Eagles Are Coming!

I was gonna try not to get too excited about this news, but then I figured, what’s the point? Might as well start saving my spot in line now.

Wrapping Up

As I’ve been sitting at my computer finishing up my Christmas shopping, I set up a playlist in iTunes for all the albums I own from this past year, and what I’ve discovered in retrospect is this: As musical years go, this one didn’t blow me away. I saw a lot of great live shows*, but as for album releases, meh. I’ve been looking over other folks’ year-end lists, which range from the tragically hip to the simply tragic, but barring one album, there’s nothing that screams “classic”. That said, I didn’t have much trouble coming up with a top ten for ’07. Here’s 2 through 10 in no particular order:

Wilco, Sky Blue Sky

Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank

The Shins, Wincing The Night Away

Bloc Party, A Weekend in the City

Aesop Rock, None Shall Pass

Andrew Bird, Armchair Apocrypha

Galactic, From the Corner To The Block

The National, Boxer

Kings of Leon, Because of the Times

And the easiest decision? The hands-down, no-contest, numero uno? I’m probably one of the few people who paid for it, and it’s been worth every penny.

Radiohead, In Rainbows

A few more Honorable Mentions:

Cabin, I Was Here EP
Ted Leo & Pharmacists, Living With The Living
Neil Young, Chrome Dreams II
Band of Horses, Cease to Begin
Dinosaur Jr., Beyond
Elliott Smith, New Moon

*Of all the shows I saw this year, Neil Young was my favorite, simply because I had waited so long to see him and it was still an amazing show. Bloc Party and Wilco were also highlights. What follows is an in-order list of every artist I saw live in 2007: Elvis Perkins > My Morning Jacket > Béla Fleck & the Flecktones > Adem > Badly Drawn Boy > The Noisettes > Bloc Party > Hot Hot Heat > Snow Patrol > Rush > Wilco > Everything Absent Or Distorted > The Broken West > Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band > Clap Your Hands Say Yeah > Das EFX > Kings of Leon > Editors > The Decemberists, > Black Rebel Motorcycle Club > Cake > Nina Storey > Little Ones > Meese > Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s > Ian Ball > Lords of the Underground > Art Brut > Spoon > The Flaming Lips > The Awkward Stage > Lavender Diamond > The New Pornographers > Crown City Rockers > Blackalicious, > Pegi Young > Neil Young > Jason Collett > Feist. Whew.

Hello Moto

1. Hot for Teacher… Van Halen
2. Have A Drink On Me… AC/DC
3. Have Mercy… Loretta Lynn
4. Hard to Handle… The Black Crowes
5. Hotel Yorba… The White Stripes
6. He Lays In The Reins… Calexico / Iron & Wine
7. Hunger Strike… Temple Of The Dog
8. Hail Hail… Pearl Jam
9. Holland, 1945… Neutral Milk Hotel
10. Hurry Tomorrow… Los Lobos
11. House Of Cards… Radiohead
12. Half A World Away… R.E.M.
13. Headfog… Jeep
14. Half Light… Athlete
15. Hallelujah… Ryan Adams
16. Hey Jealousy… Gin Blossoms
17. Hurt… Johnny Cash
18. Hurricane… Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories
19. Harriet's Got A Song… Ben Kweller
20. Handle With Care… Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins
21. Hello.........Goodbye… Sean Watkins