So... it's 20 past 10:00 PM

and I just finished watching VH1's "Rock Honors" on television tonight...

I don't know why I have such a soft spot for rock acts like KISS, Judas Priest and Queen... but any chance of seeing any of these aging acts on stage/TV always gets my priority attention.

Queen um... the Foo Fighters started out the evening with a rocking rendition of "Tie Your Mother Down". Brian May and Roger Taylor joined in midway through the song and later trotted out some hack whose name I refuse to commit to memory for a couple of other Queen tunes.

I opted to tune in on the Heat/Piston game.

Tuned back to VH1. Judas Priest followed. They brought the leather clad goodness. Halford creeped me out with his Anton LaVey look and mirror blocks on his leather jacket.

Took a phone call from Kathie, turned the volume down...

Opted to skip the Def Lep performance all together.

9:30 PM. Turned the TV and my attention up as: Rob Zombie, Scott Ian, Slash, Gilby Clark and Tommy Lee came together with ACE fucking Frehley to perform a thunderous cover of "God of Thunder". They easily turned in the best performance of the night.

Shortly after having my ass handed to me by the collective bunch above: KISS (um... Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley with two other stooges filling in on Guitar & Skins) came on stage to perform "Detroit ROCK City" & "Love Gun".

They pretty much did their KISS performance. Nothing more.... nothing less. Paul Stanley sounded like shit... but his hip operation appears to be agreeing with him. Saw him hop a few times on stage... he needs to desperately loose the bare chested outfit tho'. He had a serious case of beefy tits going on.

.rCr.

More stuff in my listening bag…

Been on a bit of a roll here with music reviews… the last of my latest music purchases is the new Raconteurs album "Broken Boy Soilders".

Admittedly I had very high hopes for the new Raconteur album when I heard that the lineup would include - Jack White (of the White Stripes), Brendon Benson (incredible singer/songwriter, Lapalco is a must own record) Patrick Keeler & Jack Lawrence (of the Greenhorns) rounding things out on skins and bass.

It was no secret that Jack White had incredible fondness for Brendon Benson and vice versa so I wasn't too surprised that the two would collaborate on a musical project of some kind. I was however taken aback when the two were paring up with the garage stomping members of the Greenhorns to record an album as the "Raconteurs".

Are the Raconteurs the next step for Jack White & Brendon Benson?

After listening to their debut effort "Broken Boy Soldiers" I have to sit back and hope otherwise…

For better or worse the album comes across as an indulgence for both Jack and Brendon to hear one other on a recording.

Musically… they don't stray far away from 60's/70's masterbratory noodlings. That said… I dig a Zeppelin inspired tracks at the age of 28 so I wouldn't fault anyone for digging this stuff.

All in all… the album is very rooted and doesn't offer the avenue I hoped Jack White would take to explore in a life after the White Stripes.

You in Reverse

Picked up the latest Doug Martsch/Built to Spill guitar opus "You In Reverse" last week… Finally got around to giving it a proper listen this morning while getting some work accomplished @ the Office.

The album is a true break from any of their recent releases. The album weighs in at 10 tracks with an average of 6 un-radio friendly minutes per song.

I secretly admire their guts to turn this into Warner and have them release it. They're likely a band that the label keeps around for indie-cred anyways…

For years… people have recognized Doug Martsch as an indie Clapton with guitar chops that are likely second to none in the indie scene.

You know what? I think I just realized why I like & dislike this album so much.

I've just listened to this album from start to finish and I totally get that his Strato-caster abilities are than thou… but what I'd really like to do is take Doug aside and say "

Doug. I get it. You can play a guitar way better than I can. Enough already with your bendy guitar chords and layered guitar swirling layers".

Notably it doesn't feature the production touch of Phil Ek on the albums liner notes… the album was instead pro-duced by Doug Martsch and Steve Lobdell(at his Audible Alchemy studio in Portland Oregon).

Not that it really matters much at this point. Built to Spill is very much an acquired taste and I may be one of the few who found them interesting 10 years ago relevant today.

Quick side Built to Spill story:

On September 10th, 2001 - I caught Built to Spill after I made an arrangement with a friend if she would buy tickets at the door I would let her have my extra ticket for the Jimmy Eat World show I had for the following night @ St. Andrews Hall.

Went to the show. Met Dough for a brief second before he hit the stage. Built To Spill completely rocked everyone's ass that night… highlighting of the evening was an amazing 10 minute version of FREEBIRD.

I recall taking my camera to the show… taking the film to get developed afterwards at a drugstore across my apartment… waking up the next day and having life as I knew it, turned upside down by the events that took place on 9/11.

2 weeks after the show… I got a call from the drugstore to pick up my film. As luck would have it… all the photos were blurred and there wasn't a single one worth sal-vaging. (I'll go home to see if I can find one and scan if at lunch found them along with a box of other goodies I need to scan and archive)

It was as if the photos were of a different time… to this day that show is possibly the most memorable of all the shows given the circumstances.

A Hundred Miles Off

I've been a fan of the Walkmen for just about as long as they've been recording music together as members of the Walkmen… In 2001, my friend Heather K sent me their EP and I instantly fell in love with their song structures and sounds.

When pressed to describe the Walkmen… I've said that they're like crawling in bed with a familiar lover.

I caught the Walkmen live the following year with 18 or so people in venue called the Magic Stick in downtown Detroit… It was possibly one of the greatest shows I ever caught while living in the Motor City.

A few weeks after the show I interviewed the lead singer Hamilton Leithauser in hopes of better understanding my then musical act - obsession.

Delighted was I when I got my hand on their latest effort "A Hundred Miles Off" last week before I drove up to San Antonio for the Memorial Day weekend. The album, much like their last two… had their sig-nature sound and recorded feel.

I was hoping for an effort that had richer sounds and better mixing to juxtapose the previous two efforts.

"A Hundred Miles Off" has another interesting trait… Hamilton showcasing a Dylanesque approach to a few of the new tunes… specifically the tracks "Louisiana", Good for you's is Good for me", and "Lost in Boston".

All in all, I recommend this album to anyone whose picked up a Walkmen album in the past or for anyone interested in a Wall of Lo-Fi fuzz….

Download/Listen to:Louisiana

Proof of Purchase

I'm a creature of habit.

A morning ritual of mine is to drown a large glass of milk doctored with a big-spoon-heaping of Quick / unstirred.

Surprised was I when I came home from lunch today to find my new "Nesquik" spoon! I have no idea how many proof-of-purchase points my Mom had to send off for this little item… nor do I know why the crude looking spoon gives me so much joy…


But this is easily the highlight of my day.

The Gaul Of It

Late Saturday evening, Katheryn and I ordered our first "On Demand" movie from TimeWarner cable… We were a little unsure how the "On Demand" service worked… after finding the appropriate menu chan-nel (920 in San Antonio) the ordering and previewing of the available pictures made it somewhat easy to order our movie. There weren't too many movies that we were thrilled to check out… We both had an interest in catching "King Kong" and another movie (possible bi-opic) called "the New York doll" "New York Doll" (thanks Heather) but opted to check out: "The Dying Gaul"

We didn't know very much about the movie or the director before watching it… All I needed to know was that it starred two of my favorite actors Peter Sarsgaard and Campbell Scott

The film is a bizarre love-triangle tale involving Peter & Campbell… with Campbell's wife (Patricia Clarkson if you can stomach her) finding out about her husbands bi-sexual ways and getting even with Peter by impersonating his dead (ex-lover) as a GHOST, with a Internet Relay Chat Account…


The film takes place in the mid 90's… at the height of online chat-rooms…Makes me wonder that if it were set in present day… if Patricia would have contacted Campbell by MySpace or by commenting on his blog….

I felt the film was a total mess… Highly recommend that everyone pass on this picture if ever presented with the option of watching it. Do however check out the screen writers other flick - The Secret Lives of Dentists.

.rCr.

DaVinci Code

Got around to watching the DaVinci Code last night… My good friend "Chivo" had a Cinimark gift-card/movie pass burning a hole in his pocket and asked if I'd like to tag a long for a movie last night.

I never read the DaVinci Code, but 6 or so people I know, including my dearest Kathie read it… so I had a pretty good idea of what the book was about. I've yet to hear someone say that it's anything short of a good page turner… or an incredible work of fiction.

That said… The History Channel devoted a week to DaVinci/DaVinci Code related programs to stir enough interest in me to check it out.

The film surpassed all my expectations… not having read the book may have helped my movie going experience tho'. That said… I would describe the movie as a better "National Treasure".

Adios Vito...

Vito finally got around to expiring on the Soprano's last night… but it felt a little cheep. I don't really know how I pictured Vito's character getting clipped on the show… I never pictured Paul surfacing from a Airport Motel closet as he and his goons gave Vito the once over before hearing of his off-screen-demise.

It just doesn't add up.

For what its worth… I could care less about his life secret life in Delaware. "Johnny Cakes" jokes aside… it frustrated me to see the Soprano family so apathetic about everything lately.



The reason I wanted Vito's head to roll earlier this season was because of his indefensible onscreen at-tempts to screw Tony when he was in a Coma.

I really thought that Carmela would have a heavy hand in sealing his fate… for him to go out the way he did… it felt like a waste.

Telephonies

If there's one thing in the news these days that’s really grinding my gears it’s the NSA wiretapping story… In short, there's talk of the NSA working with a number of communication providers to work on phone record collection program.

If this is something that concerns you in the slightest… peep the Electronic Frontier Foundation and consider dropping a dollar or two in their collection plate.

.rCr.

Return of Rollie

Been away from the blog the past couple of weeks to spend a little more time away from the computer after I leave work…

While I've been away I've spent a good chunk of my time fooling around on Wikipedia. I don't know how much time I spend on the site daily… but because of its cross-reference nature, I find my-self 30 or so stories deep within any subject I get around to looking up.

Recently… I've been spending an alarming amount of time reading up on Conspiracy Theories. I don't really know why I find it interesting to read… I think its because it really reads like good fiction. Having the ability to read cross-references within the conspiracy theories you get to spend a good time learning a little bit more about things you wouldn't normally run across.

When away from wikipedia, I've been putting the hurt to the New Super Mario Bros. For the Nintendo DS. I'm currently exploring the "World 3" after playing it non-stop Wednesday - Friday of last week… I spent the weekend at Kathie's so I didn't get to pick up the DS over the weekend that much.



It occurred to me over the weekend that this coming weekend is a Memorial day! We don't get too many approved holidays @ the newspaper… so I plan to make the most of it.