annie

I got a new dog today. Her name is Annie. She's 8 weeks old and she keeps Sam on his toes. See more pictures at Flickr.

How Many Times Can It Be Said?

Fuck Bush. This guy is class A idiot. Apparently he thinks he's helping uninsured children by vetoing a bill that puts 5 billion more dollars towards insuring them. His claim is that he wants to make sure that "the neediest children are taken care of first" before he signs anything. So you're helping them by denying them any help now. Um. What? We spend hundreds of billions on this fucking war (I've always thought going to Iraq was an awful idea), but we can't drop 5 billion on 8 million of our own goddamn children. Is that conservative fiscal policy?

As claimed by CNN, "The program gives coverage to parents who make too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to buy private insurance for their children. Critics have said their concern is that parents might be prompted to drop private coverage for their children to get cheaper coverage under the bill." Who are these critics? Private insurance companies? Lobbyists? Are we putting their first class business trips ahead of our less fortunate children? Is this conservative politics? If so, count me out.

The Radio Anti-Christ

I just got a hold of a new track off of Jens Lekman's upcoming album that everyone needs to take their hard earned pennies and buy.

This guy is a smile a minute. I got to see him at Pitchfork. Nothing but good times. I mean how you gonna listen to a song about bingo night and not get a little pep in your step?

And yet there is no way you're going to find him on today's radio. The tempo changes. He hits some crazy notes. It's outside the box. It doesn't plod along at 132 with every vocal note stacked 12 times, tuned, and buried under the harmonies. There's a very human quality to his music. Radio doesn't like that. Now who knows, in 20 years radio might be playing stuff like this, but I doubt it. I think it'll be dead in 10.

The Fall Collection...

Every time the temperature dips into the 50's, I get as happy as a second grader at a pizza party. I love this time of year. I know it's only September and it's going to get as hot as two rats fucking in a wool sock again, but hey, like I said.

There's something about the fall that always sends me back to high school. Senior year. First real girlfriend. First tryst with alcohol and drugs. And the first time I ever heard The Bends.

I was laid up at my folks house with pneumonia (probably from the unfiltered cigarettes I was smoking at the time), and I borrowed said girlfriend's CDs. There it was I heard "Just" for the first time.

Now I was known as a musical "purist" back in the day. Anything after '79 was bullshit and all I wanted was more Zeppelin. Lord have mercy. God bless my little soul. The first time I heard "just" I knew Radiohead had changed me. It opened the door to modern music for me.

Now, enough rambling. Back to the point. This time of year always sends me back to senior year, and so a few albums always "creep" back into my CD player. Weezer - Weezer and Radiohead - the bends are number 1 and 2.

I feel like I'm back working at Pizza Perfect in Bellevue and I'm driving the '88 Grand Marquis again. Ah, the fall. It's time to go camping.

Muchas Gracias

...to the lovely Janet for giving my band, and the relatives, a spot on her radio show. She's on WRVU. Check it out

Nashville Rocks

Somebody once asked what the best thing about the Nashville music scene is. It's a pretty crazy question considering how diverse the music scene is here. Everything from 12 types of country/western/swing/bluegrass, to an amazing symphony, to a thriving rock scene fuels the city. And really, the more the merrier. There's always a show to see. From The Don Kelley Band at Robert's, to Vivaldi at the Schemmerhorn, to a Spoon show at Cannery. There are no shortages of amazing tunes going into the night.

The locals put on a pretty good show themselves. One thing is for certain though, when it comes to fuckin' rock, there is Jeff, and there is everyone else. The show is amazing. Anytime anyone in the room hasn't heard Jeff before makes it through about half a song, they move up close. They are the Pied Pipers of blowing minds. Jamin plays the drums like a Buddy Rich possessed and Jake's guitar riffs hit hard and heavy.

So, when I think of the Nashville music scene, I think of Jeff. Maybe more bands in town will be able to come close to their glory.....


probably not.

Swedes Do It Better

Go to Grimey's and get the new Dungen album right now. If you're like me and grew up listening to old rock records, or like psychedelic music, or like shit that will blow your mind, do it. This Gustav Ejstes guy does it right. Nice room sounds on the drums, kick ass guitar freak-outs, fuzzy zoom bass, as well as pretty laid back tunes. It is all in Swedish, so you hear some crazy words, but it almost seems to add to the music in the sense that you really focus on the whole picture (not just the lyrics or what-have-you). Track 5, Du Ska Inte Tro Att Det Ordnar Sig, is a personal favorite.

...and while you're at it, go ahead and buy the first Dungen album, Ta Det Lungt. It also kicks ass.

Indie Pop/Rock Gone Horribly Wrong

Holy cow. Shit. The new Architecture in Helsinki album is so fucking bad. That dude's voice over those dance tunes hurts my soul. I am but one man, but I welcome anyone to give me anything redeeming about it. Wow.

I Never Thought I'd Say It

but Courtney Love knows what she is talking about....

my new baby

my new baby, originally uploaded by Eli MF Cash.

I just bought a 60's Hagstrom bass (I'm thinking '65). Man it is the coolest shit ever. I've always been a stickler for simple basses (Jazz and Precisions mostly), but this thing is a load of fun. It has a total of 5 switches (lo, hi, tone, mute, and pickup) and it's short scale, which enables me to move with ease. Apparently Hagstroms were known for having "fast necks". I gotta say, from what I've felt so far, "they" are dead on. The frets are almost flush with the neck, but there's hardly any buzz (though the action is a little higher than I'm used to). The sunburst is identical to my '66 Jazz, which is a plus.

It was love at first sight. I have Magnus Sveningsson to thank for introducing me to the brand and Russ Pahl for hooking it up like a champ. Time to go plug it in to the Marshall.

P.S. That Supertramp album is the shit

East Nashville Venues

East Nashville needs a new mid-sized venue badly. With as many artists and musicians (as well as many other show friendly people) living in the hood, it seems silly to have to drive across the river for a good 300-500 capacity venue. The 5 Spot rocks, but it's too small. The French Quarter smells bad and it's dank, not in a cool way either. Something along the lines of the Exit/In out here would do very well methinks.

Hot Sounds

Recently I started archiving again, and transfered Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years". Even after a digital transfer, there is something about the way music sounds coming through a record player.

I really noticed the reverb on the drums on "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover". The vocals seem to break up every once in a while, but it sounds great, I like it that way. My personal favorite is the way that the bass sounds. I guess it's probably a combination of a few things: bass hitting the tape (2" 16 track?), through a kick ass board that had been smoked over, hitting the needle, zooming through my ears and blowing my mind. Sweet lord the Rhodes that opens the album sounds amazing.

And it seems like all the crackles and pops just make it sound better...

I hate to be one of those guys preaching about analog sound, but I can't help what I like. Maybe it's because I remember still buying records, and I feel some nostalgia towards them. I really think that if I did the blindfold test on 100 people, 90 of them would say they liked the way the vinyl sounded over the remastered CD. Especially on headphones...

Even the new prints on vinyl sound good. A Tribe Called Quest's "Check the Rhime" just sounds..... right. The way the reverb on the cross-stick deacys into the needle noise sounds right. It all sounds right. And if you need 'em I got crazy prophylactics, indeed.

A few years ago I picked up Pearl Jam's "Ten"at Grimey's when they were still on Bransford, and it blew my mind. I had heard it a million times on cassette and CD, but something about having it blaring out of my speakers hit me hard. It was special.

That was the moment that I really fell in love with vinyl. I realized that an album that hadn't before, sounded utterly amazing on the turntable.

George Winston's "December" next. Yes

P.S. If you are someone who enjoys things that kick ass, you should go listen to the guitar solo on Wanda Jackson's "I Gotta Know" right now.

Mr. George

I got into Inara George's album All Rise about a couple of years ago, and whilst I was checking around to see who this magical voice was, I learned that she is the daughter of the late Lowell George. I had heard the name when people brought up Little Feat, but had never listened to his solo stuff. He put out only one album before he died in 1979 called Thanks, I'll Eat It Here. On that album there is a song called Cheek to Cheek which kicks ass hither and fro and all over the rest of it, too. It starts out like a pretty straight ahead Mexicali song, but when that chorus hits, it turns into some crazy gypsy rumba. I can't tell what the hell the solo instrument is, some high tuned guitar or harp or something, but needless to say it is the shit. Check it.

Musica Popular Brasileira

I've been getting deep into MPB for the past year. Man, I gotta say, Brazilians do not fuck around when it comes the music. I started with Astrud Gilberto, then Elis Regina, then Milton Nascimento, then Lo Borges, then Antonio Carlos Jobim, now I've recently heard some tracks by a modern act called Los Hermanos. I love it. The melodies and chord structures would make Burt Bacharach mess himself and the weird shit would blow Brian Wilson's mind. Another thing I like is that it's all sung in Portugese, so I don't get hung up if the lyrics suck. I can just jam out to all the kick ass vocal performances. Elis Regina is a god, she's got amazing tone, pitch, and control.

Dinosaurs

OK, I get it now. I have to admit, I was skeptical of getting into T. Rex, then I heard "Diamond Meadows". Damn, I love this song. It's got a Lou Reed thing to it, but it sounds better. Damn it sounds good. I'll say it again. It sounds really good. Marc Bolan is the man. I used to love "Bang A Gong" when I was a kid, but never really liked what I heard recently when I tried to get into his stuff. Then I heard Sean Lennon's version of "Would I Be the One", and really liked it, only to find out that it was a Marc Bolan song (sort of). Marc was a really talented composer and he had a really great understanding of chord structure. I think I've found a new artist to bury myself in for awhile....

The Preds Face Extinction

After reading the Tennessean report of Balsillie renewing his lease with a Hamilton, ON arena, this much is clear to me:

Balsillie is going to try his hardest to move a team to Canada, that much is sure. He is on a Canadian holy mission. It didn't work with Pittsburgh, and it makes sense why he came for us next. I can't blame the man. Hockey is Canada's sport, and he has the resources to make this thing happen whether or not we meet the attendance requirements. He'd be seen as a saint. For the general health of the NHL, expanding the league out of the north to get new fans and revenue makes sense. I have become an avid fan of the Preds since the holdout. If the league is not ready to to commit AT LEAST 15 years to gain a real fan base in an area that has never had hockey, then it might as well pull all its teams and head back up north. People say that Nashville is not a hockey town, and compared to any town in Canada they are right. As a fan, I hope the league denies Basillie's request to move the team, and gives the south a little more time.

My how them times a change

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Hilarious

Miracles do happen....

I'm sitting here picking out the "bass line" to John Mayer's track "I Don't Trust Myself".... (before I go on further, any indie kids who are out there making rude gestures and puking noises can kiss my ass. I don't know if you can hear it, but the rhythm tracks on his new album make me mess myself. The drum sounds, bass tone, and general approach of less is more makes me smile. Thank you Willie, Pino, and Steve. P.S. My favorite tracks are the aforementioned [I like that word], Belief [the way Steve moves from the verse groove into the more straight ahead 8ths with a swing on the hat rock groove is so tasty] and Vultures.)

........So, I'm sitting here struggling and I'm listening to the "bass line" and I'm starting to hear all kinds of weird shit: octave and third parts, runs walking down at the 10th fret mixed in with some plucking that's a little outside, but you never feel the bottom drop out. I'm thinking whoever is playing this has to have 3 hands. Being an investigative som bitch I checked to see which bass player, Willie or Pino, is fucking with my head. Lo and behold:

After Transforming Fretless Pop & The Neo-Soul Feel Turns Toward John Mayer & The Who

half way down the page...

What’s the story behind you and Willie Weeks playing together on “I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You)”?

The day after the tsunami concert, Willie was coming to the studio to play on John’s CD. I was still in town, so Steve Jordan said I should come by and say “hi” to Willie. I’d met him a few times before, and he always makes a point to tell me he was in [New York music store] Sam Ash on 48th Street the day I bought my fretless Music Man in 1981. Anyway, I went to hang out and we all sat around talking, and Steve said, “This is crazy—you’re both here, so we should get two basses on something.” John came in and showed us “Trust.” So I said to Willie, “Whatever way you want to do it, you can take the business end and I’ll take the dusty end, and we’ll stay out of each other’s way.” Willie went into the room first and started playing the form to get the root notes for himself. I followed, plugged in, and just started marking out the chord changes with sliding 10ths, Larry Graham-style; then I added some pops at the end of the phrases. [See Lesson, page 46.] Steve was setting up and he said, “That’s it—that’s the vibe of the song.” John dug it, too, so we cut it in a couple of passes. It was such a buzz watching Willie play; I was like, I’m playing with Willie Weeks! What’s going on here?


BLOODY HELL!!!!

Now it all makes sense! There's freaking two of the most amazing bass players of all time on this track! Miracles do happen...

Who's That Knocking On the Door? Bad Air in Your Lungs

Guess what people of Nashville, bad air is here. Buried in the Tennessean is an update talking about the air quality in Nashville for tomorrow, and yet I believe that most people reading it either don't understand what they're reading or don't believe it.

Bad air.

The people in the laboratories are saying if you want to stay healthy, avoid going outside. The same people that make all those drugs you take are saying your kids should stay indoors.

The usual idiots talk about driving their SUVs tomorrow with the air cranked, and I sit there and wonder why a person would say something like that. You wouldn't go stick your head in the chimney of a coal burning plant, or sit in your garage with your car running would you?

Well, I can tell you, I wouldn't because the emissions from the aforementioned are bad for my health. I think that much is common sense now. That does get me thinking though, how does this effect the the world as a whole?

I am no scientist, so know the realizations I'm about to say are personal ones that I've come to through my education at Nashville public schools and what I've researched through places like the US National Assessment of Climate Change and The New Scientist.

We breathe oxygen to survive. Oxygen comes from things such as trees and sea algae. The reason the oxygen that is produced does not escape into space is because there is a protective layer of atmosphere that keeps all the stuff on Earth, good or bad, on Earth. The Earth is like a big garage, so I don't want to pump a bunch of unhealthy stuff into it. I believe that I am a product and inhabitant of the planet Earth. If the above is bad for my health, I believe that it is bad for most living things on Earth.

Plants such as trees, consume carbon dioxide and convert it into oxygen that is in turn consumed by humans which in turn convert that O2 into CO2 etc etc. If you take away trees, the things that convert the CO2 into breathable air, through deforestation at the same time you increase CO2 production through power plant emissions and car emissions you have interrupted the natural (dare I say it God given) balance. That sounds bad to me.

Now, add that to water pollution that kills sea algae and holes in our atmosphere that cause the Earth to bake from increased solar radiation absorption, and it seems to me we have a huge fucking problem Houston.

Maybe it's just me. Maybe not.

Arvo Part

I just bought Arvo Part's Best of CD, and I must say, holy bejezuz, this stuff is amazing. My two favorite songs at the moment are "Summa for Choir" performed by the Vasari Singers, and "Fratres for Violin and Piano" performed by Tasmin Little (Violin) and Martin Roscoe (Piano). The album, sonically speaking, is breath taking, and the performances are really top notch. A fan of some somber classical music would love it, I swar.

Iraq

As a US citizen that feels that he is genuinely concerned about the war in Iraq, I can't help but wonder who the war is benefiting.

Is the war benefiting America in the sense that it is making us, as well as the rest of the world, safer from Islamic radicalism? It seems that as the war drags on that our exit is going to be a little less glorified than the proponents had once expected. The birth of new sectarian violence has stifled the infant government and our continued military presence is wearing thin on the already war weary (we're talking a long time) region. As more and more Iraqi citizens (the true losers in this war) die, it seems the military is incapable of doing anything to stifle the influx of "insurgents" and bringing enough calm and stability needed for the fledgling democracy to be effective. Without a strong central government, Al Qaeda will continue to flourish in the region. As long as our military is in the region, it will give cause for new recruits against us, because I believe we are seen as occupiers, not liberators. I think that the visit to Syria to discuss border security was a step in the right direction and that more diplomacy with neighboring countries would do greater good than 20,000 more troops could ever do.

Or is the war benefiting the Iraqi people? It seems that for every American soldier killed in Iraq, many, many more civilians die.

My humble opinion is that the only way Iraq can become a good story, like Bosnia, and not a horror story, like Afghanistan, is through open discussion and diplomacy with the entire Middle East.