i love my new camera.



mise en place. 3.31.06. red sea bar. minneapolis, mn.

destroyer, 400 bar, 3.22.06

the setlist. procured for me by one of the nice guitar players whose name i did not get. actually, it was the bassist, whose name i still did not get. nice man. good set.

destroyer are (is?) (usually, as i am fake british, i use are for bands, but destroyer is a band that i typically think of as just dan bejar plus random people, so i'm hesitant about using the are)(random thought there) awesome. they/he played last night in minneapolis and it was a fantastic show. it was a co-headline gig with magnolia electric company, which i did not stay for. they played for about an hour and played all those songs in bold black sharpie marker except for holly going lightly and the crossover. i kind of wish they had played the little pen written set, because streethawk II has become one of my favorite songs ever, i think. alas, maybe that is only for when they are the second headliner and have time to play an encore and such.

this was such a different experience than when i saw dan in 2001 (the last time i saw him) and he was playing by himself except for the occasional backup play from the main band whose name escapes at the moment. there were five people at the front at that show, and maybe three people sitting in the back of the venue. the five of us were solid supporters and four of us (the two others that i knew, me, and the random guy i stood next to) were there last night. aside from us four, there were at least a few hundred people there, which made me happy for dan but made me think that the secret is out and people now know about destroyer. sometimes, it's good to have these things a well-kept secret, though i suppose it's good for dan's pocketbook to actually have people show up to these things.

dan looks different, too. aside from his stonewashed, tapered pants, he looked quite dapper with his curly out of control hair and lovely raglan sweater.

dan circa 2001:


(with me and my ex)

dan circa yesterday:


i did not get a chance to talk to him, but i'm sure i would have said hi and we would have had an awesome conversation that might have gone something like this:

me: "hi dan. you're awesome"
dan: "thanks"
me: "how about a high five?"
dan: "sure"
[high five]
me: "thanks! talk to you later!"
dan: "bye"

it probably would have been great. it's pretty great even imaginarily.

more photos:





i am only posting the blurred ones. straight lines are for amateurs.

right?

anyhow, destroyer was good. i would highly recommend destroyer's rubies to people, as it will probably be one of the best albums of 2006 (though so far both quasi and howe gelb do come ahead of it)(as does neko case)(it IS still good, though. i swear!) in my list that i will compile eventually in my head and never share with anyone because apparently i forget to actually chronicle things like that.

however, if you really want to hear destroyer in their prime, check out streethawk: a seduction , because you just cannot go wrong with that.

2nd letter to howe

dear howe,

your album comes out today! i am so excited. after work today, i am going to go buy chicken little for my daughter at target (hot tip for you: the first week a dvd is released at target, they're always on sale. what typically costs over $20, you can get for $16.99 or less! it's pretty great.) and then head to my favorite cd store to pick up your new album.

i just have one request for you: please tour minneapolis. thx.

love,
erin

p.s. i see that we're still not myspace friends. that's cool, but, you know, i AM awesome.

letter to howe

oh, howe, how did i not know that you had another new album coming out? you did this to me last year, too, with the release of arizona amp and alternator. at least this year, you had the sense to use your own name, but still. and, at least this time, i found out about it in advance. *sigh. of. relief.*

i'm anxiously awaiting the march 21 release date of 'sno angel like you. i'll buy it right away and probably listen to it and cherish it for always. hopefully it's better than "the listener" and i know that it will have to be better than "all over the map". make another confluence or chore of enchantment or even a glum. i know that you're constantly recording and changing direction and that is something that i do love about you, but sometimes you do take some missteps along the way.

no matter, though, i will still love you and continue to buy your albums (though i did not buy the second all piano album since lull some piano just didn't do it for me).

oh, and add me as your myspace friend, k? i like you. i do! and, i'm pretty cool and stuff and would be an alright internet friend to have.

thx.

love,
erin

r. stevie moore, part 1

part 1 of infinity? i have a feeling i'll be talking about him more later.

anyhow, for now, enjoy this song that i really can't stop listening to:

wayne wayne go away

eef barzelay

eef, front man for the band clem snide and one of my favorite magnets (er, of the players who potentially form the superstar magnet band on my cubicle metallic surfaces) is releasing a solo album on february 21, entitled bitter honey. also, he will be touring to support said album. tour dates are:

February 21st	Louisville,KY	Ear X-Tacy (w/instore - 6pm)
February 23rd	Lexington,KY	CD Central (w/instore - 6pm)
February 25th	Nashville,TN	Grimey's (w/instore - 4pm)
April 6th	Seattle,WA	Crocodile Cafe
April 7th	Portland,OR	Doug Fir
April 10th	San Francisco,CA	Cafe Du Nord
April 11th	Los Angeles,CA	Largo
April 12th	San Diego,CA	Casbah
April 14th	Memphis,TN	Hi Tone
April 15th	Nashville,TN	The Basement
April 19th	Madison,WI	Cafe Montmarte
April 20th	Minneapolis,MN	400 Bar
April 21st	Chicago,IL	Schubas
April 22nd	Dekalb,IL	House Cafe
May 4th	Arlington,VA	Iota
May 6th	New York,NY	Mercury Lounge
May 7th	Cambridge,MA	Middle East
May 10th	Cleveland,OH	Beachland Ballroom

exciting times! tour dates abound for many artists that i love to see live. i'm a bit overwhelmed here.

upcoming excitement

aside from the excitement of seeing britt daniel "act" on veronica mars last night, there is new excitement in the world of the bad arts.

neko case, whose upcoming fourth album fox confessor brings the flood hits the shelves march 7 (u.s.), is playing minneapolis on march 29.



excitement abounds.

neko is one of my all-time favorite performers. i have seen her twice as a new pornographer, once as a corn sister, and five times performing with her boyfriends (though she has dropped the boyfriends from her album titles, they're still there on tour. especially the amazing jon rauhouse on pedal steel.). amazing! so, to see a minneapolis date pop up on billions.com this morning was fairly very good to see. no one puts on a show like neko. while i wouldn't say that her performance is up to par with such acts as spoon or even harry and the potters, she commands a different type of stage presence and her voice is as pure live as it is on her albums. pure, sultry, amazing.

the new album, too, is supposed to be great, so be sure to go shopping on march 7. did you get that? MARCH 7, k?


Track List:
01. Margaret vs. Pauline
02. Star Witness
03. Hold On, Hold On
04. A Widow’s Toast
05. That Teenage Feeling
06. Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
07. John Saw That Number
08. Dirty Knife
09. Lion’s Jaws
10. Maybe Sparrow
11. At Last
12. The Needle Has Landed

MARCH 7.

also, you can listen to "star witness" here

drake tungsten

clocking out is for suckers
self-released cassette, circa 1994.


super rare. super awesome.
available now for only one week or so.

enjoy.

(more information on drake can be found HERE)

exes

today, i have spent the better part of an hour getting lost on myspace. sometimes, a girl just needs more "friends" and, so, i was searching for people and adding people and seeing if i could find people.

i stumbled across rowan's dad's myspace music page and discovered that he's gotten much better than he used to be. he'd probably kill me if he ever read this blog and knew that i was posting this here (maybe), but, maybe he wouldn't. i don't know.

anyhow, i present you with wallace wylie and three of his songs:

back down
come look at the moon
once i had a golden crown (i think that is the name)


if you like folky scottish singers, then you will probably like him.

oddities

maybe it is snobbery. i know not. all i know is that sometimes i really just do think that my taste in music is better than everyone else's.

even better than my brother's, who i used to idolize for his musical taste.

and then other times, i don't think that at all.

today, however, i do think that. i am feeling the music snob inside coming out.


reminder to self: make data cd of good music to give to m forrester of the band mise en place tonight. the new joos? he mentioned clap your hands? destroyer is out. the arcade fire? spoooooooon rarities? (i should zip those and post them here)

other reminders, regarding upcoming things:
show: jan. 21, bobby conn, the cave, northfield minnesota (northfield? c'mon bobby conn! that is so out of my metro range.)
cd: jan. 24, cat power, the greatest
cd: jan. 24, robert pollard, from a compound eye (double?)
show: jan. 25, mise en place, uptown bar
cd: feb. 21, destroyer, rubies
cd: mar. 21, quasi, when the going gets dark
show: mar. 22, destroyer, the 400 bar
show: mar. 30, robert pollard, first avenue

there are things that i will not be able to attend, even in that list.

i also wouldn't mind it if someone would babysit my awesome child on my birthday, so that i could see the handsome family, who i did not see in november of 2004 with giant sand even though i have the tickets sitting here at my desk. that was kind of stupid. i don't really know why i did not go to that. oh, regret. alas, i will not see them, because there are other plans on my birthday. and, also, i will not see giant sand anytime soon as howe seems to be avoiding the midwest. oh, howe. i will just have to put in drunken bees and deal with weird kind of bloated long haired glum era howe. yeah, maybe i will do that.

correction: the strokes

the strokes' first impressions of earth is not runner-up for worst album of 2005, but rather will most likely win worst album of 2006 award.

i got confused. i listened to the album in or around october of 2005 and thus assumed that it came out then. since i had no intentions of purchasing it, i did not ever bother to research whether or not a real copy of the album had been released. if i had, then i would have learned that january 3, 2006 was the release date, thus making it among the first and definitely the worst albums released this new year.

if you want to hear it, let me know. i'll zip it up nice and pretty for you. however, i am warning you that listening to this album might cause upset stomachs, headaches, and general nausea, so proceed with caution.


---

in other, unrelated news, the greatest by cat power is streaming on her myspace site, but this girl cannot get it to work. the album is properly released next tuesday and, as i mostly like her, i will wait until then.

kk at the entry

saturday night found me at the seventh street entry, quite loaded, for my first and only gangsta show ever. kevin kash arranged a night of, well, gangstaness, and though i don't really remember it to review it properly, i seem to recall having a good time.





(and the photos were taken blurry on purpose. not just because i was quite drunk. i prefer the blurred look of concert photos to nice crisp ones. though, crisp ones are more suited for magnet making, but this is probably a topic for a different post altogether.)

Mise En Place

or, listen to my brother's band!



another gesture - mise en place


photo by me, just so you know

worst album of 2k5

the worst album that i listened to was cocorosie. tres horrible!! antony of antony and the johnsons makes me sick to my stomach and not even devendra could save the album. it was crap.

if you are thinking of buying this, i would highly recommend going against any instincts that tell you yes and follow my advice and just say no to noah's ark.



second worst would be the strokes new one whateveritwascalled. i couldn't listen past song three because it, too, made me nauseous. when will the strokes do something different? they really only have one song, you know. just thirty odd variations on it.

2K5

here it is. some of my favorite songs released in 2005.

MIX!

1. the beast and dragon, adored - spoon
one of the best opening songs of all time, and rowan's favorite song evah.

2. notorious lightning - destroyer
yes, it's 9 minutes and 51 seconds long. but, yes, it's fantastic.

3. wolfie - scout niblett
this song haunts me.

4. sovay - andrew bird
though i find his album to be, overall, just okay, i really really like this song.

5. let the cool goddess rust away - clap your hands say yeah
this band was one of my favorite surprises from 2005. they're fun. they're catchy. they're good.

6. this modern love - bloc party
when i first listened to this album, i really loved it, but it kind of faded from memory after a while. however, this song is really good.

7. rollercoaster - sleater-kinney
SK rock! need i say more?

8. stoner jam - blood on the wall
kk introduced me to this band, and though they're a bit sonic youth tributey, they're still pretty good. their album awesomer is pretty awesome, i must say.

9. man on a string - arizona amp and alternator
i love howe gelb. i love scout niblett. put those two together?! magic. pure magic.

10. long haired child - devendra banhart
devendra is like the now version of a sixties hippie. he works it.

11. holding back the year - lou barlow
oh, lou. how could i not put lou on here? one of the standouts from EMOH.

12. punks in the beerlight - the silver jews
I LOVE IT TO THE MAX.

13. intermission - nine black alps
little band from manchester, england makes good.

14. i summon you - spoon
yes, i have broken my rule and put two spoon songs on here. however, spoon are awesome and thus deserve two songs on a mix. this is probably my favorite track from "gimme fiction". i think it's because i'm a romantic at heart.

15. no more shoes - stephen malkmus and the jicks
i probably could have chosen a different song, however, there is something about this eight minute rock out session that i really like. maybe it's just because i really just love malky.

16. baby man - bobby conn and the glass gypsies
live version of one of my favorite bobby conn songs from "rise up".

17. baby man refrain - bobby conn and the glass gypsies
i actually like this one more, but i can't have the refrain without the song and i can't have the song without the refrain. these two go hand in hand.

18. the bleeding heart show - the new pornographers
perhaps not the best way to close a cd, but this is my favorite track from "twin cinema" and i love neko and i quite like the new pornographers, so it's on here and it's the closer...just because.


i'm sure that there are many more that could have been put on here, and maybe next year i'll figure out some hidden 2k5 gems and put those on a revised and updated best of mix. but, for now, this will do.

i forgot some albums for honorable mentions.

the silver jews - tanglewood numbers
devendra banhart - cripple crow (though, in all fairness, i probably have not listened to that enough to give it h.m., but i know that it's good, so it goes up there. for goodness sake.)
blood on the wall - awesomer


the mix is made, but not quite ready to go. i like to quality control these things. once it's had the run through, i'll post it here with notes and the like. so, be prepared for that.

top of the pops

or, alternately, the bad arts gives a rundown on the year 2k5.

album of the year
hands down, this has to go to spoon for their fantastic album, "gimme fiction".




hands down.
i was hooked upon first listen. well, that is a slight exaggeration, as i really enjoyed it as of the first listen but was a bit taken aback by what i thought was the abrupt end to the album. it just.....ends. suddenly. anyhow, by the second listen, i was hooked. from the opening measures of the beast and dragon, adored to the still somewhat abrupt ending of merchants of soul, everything is pure quality. there is not one bad track on this album. in fact, this album pushed spoon into the stratosphere of obsession and britt into the status of ROCKSTARGOD. in my opinion. of course.

any album that can hold my attention span for months and months after repeated listening and wear and tear (this was the only album played in my car for about three months), is a good album. not every album gets that privelege, but gimme fiction does.

spoon rocks.
plus, britt is really hot.




best album of the year and probably in my top five albums of all time, were i to revisit that list.

honorable mentions:
destroyer - notorious lightning and other works (ep)
bobby conn and the glass gypsies: live classics vol. 1
clap your hands say yeah - clap your hands say yeah
arizona amp and alternator: arizona amp and alternator
stephen malkmus and the jicks: face the truth
sleater-kinney: the woods
the new pornographers: twin cinema
scout niblett - kidnapped by the neptune

there surely are more, but those are the standouts at the moment. spoon just was leagues above everyone else and thus my vision is a bit clouded by that.

i would like to give a special shout out to the british band nine black alps and their debut album "everything is". while i enjoyed the album quite a lot and would recommend it to people who like good british rock, that is not why i am giving the shout out. once upon a time, i traded mix tapes with sam forrest, the main man behind the band, and he makes a mean mix and makes a good album, and thus, the shout out. so, that was a debut in 2k5 that is quite good. okay? okay.


concert of the year
this one is a little bit less clear-cut, and thus, i am giving the honors to two bands.

1A. HARRY AND THE POTTERS in the park, july 19, 2005.
i love wizard rock. perhaps people know this? i love harry potter. i love harry and the potters. i love everything about this band. they rocked it out in the minneapolis park on a lovely, sunny, but not too hot summer day. it was fantastic. super fun. super energetic.



they showed heart. they showed soul. they showed pure awesomeness (but not pure-blood. oh no.).

1B. SPOON, 400 bar, december 8, 2005.
again, the awesomeness of britt and his voice and his fantastic songs and the sound of spoon overshadow most everyone else. most. i was very close to britt (front row at a small venue with a low stage) and i think it made all the difference in the world. see, i saw them play in june at a larger venue, but, due to the day of three concerts, we had to stand in the balcony and though it was awesome (they sounded incredible), it was not the same as being RIGHTTHERE in a small, sweaty crowd, knowing that you're witnessing rock godness in the making.

so, yeah, spoon rocked. read my review of this for further details on the show.



honorable mentions:
sleater-kinney, first avenue, june 15, 2005.
neko case, first avenue, june 7, 2005.
lou barlow, 400 bar, march 15, 2005.
ted leo and the pharmacists, first avenue, june 14, 2005.
stephen malkmus, electric fetus, june 12, 2005.

i did not go to as many concerts this year as i have in years past, and some of the concerts that i should have seen were cancelled (destroyer! bobby conn!) and others (scout niblett! grr...) i just could not attend. alas, the ones i did see were pretty quality, so that is good. not really a bad one in the bunch, though i did leave some off the list. i couldn't list everything, right?


random weird music thing of the year
my mom knows more about the hip hop world than i do. it's weird.


musical discoveries of the year
one album that came out in 2k4 that i quite like is the arcade fire's funeral. i was a bit anti-buying this because sometimes i don't like to follow the hype, but, i must say that that is an album that i have enjoyed thoroughly since its purchase one year after its release. that's not necessarily a "discovery", but it would be my album of the year not released in the year.

jim guthrie. he's pretty fantastic. i was sent an edited version of his first album, a thousand songs this fall? or late summer? anyhow, regardless of when it was, i found that album to be kind of....just okay. however, after listening to morning noon night repeatedly later this fall, i realized that i really liked him. a lot. that album was one of my favorite new to me albums of 2005, though it came out in 2002. i would also recommend now, more than ever (2003) as a solid pick.


new band alert
my brother has a band called mise en place. they're pretty good. i've seen them live and heard rough cuts of their demo, and i'd say, (with just an ever so slightly biased opinion) that they could do good things. i'll let you know if/when they explode beyond the local circuit. they just played st. paul for the first time the other day, so they are expanding beyond minneapolis. fifteen minutes beyond, but still.

other random weird music thing
how did the emancipation of mimi score eight grammy nods? granted, i have never listened to it, but eight? that's kind of a lot.

tomorrow, if i remember, i'll have a best of 2005 mix ready for you. it should be pretty mixtastic.

wizard rock, part deux. . .

(. . .or the post where i blether about wizard rock with no real point and no real direction, as per usual for the bad arts)

wizard rock is taking over the world, and i'm not entirely sure that this is a good thing.

yes, once upon a time, i would have been pretty excited to see my favorite band about books, harry and the potters, leading what is apparently a world-wide trend in writing music about the harry potter books. well, scratch that. i am still excited that harry and the potters seem to be a phenomenon and are pretty much considered the kings of wizard rock and are written about in entertainment weekly, on mtv.com, and (with their indie cred, perhaps?) pitchfork.com...to name a few. they're really all over. this bothers me not one bit except that paul and joe aren't nearly as quick with responding to queries as they once were as i'm pretty sure that their fanbase has grown tenfold or more since the release of voldemort can't stop the rock.

no, harry and the potters success has bothered me not one bit. however, i am a bit dismayed at the sheer number of bands that have since popped up who attempt to rock in the same vein, but come up pretty short.

for example, recently, a livejournal community has been dedicated to the genre of wizard rock (check it out here), and with some investigation into the matter i was able to see just how much this has grown as a genre. apparently, wizard rock is the new black, and writing songs about harry potter and life in the world of magic guarantees you legions of fans.

(you don't even necessarily have to be good, as some of those bands most definitely are not.)

maybe i wouldn't mind if i didn't just really love harry and the potters so so much. i hold bands that i love near and dear in my heart and i don't want H&tPs success to be infringed upon by other bands such as draco and the malfoys (who are actually quite good, i must begrudgingly say) or the remus lupins or the whomping willows, or the whole list of wizard rock bands that can be found in the info section of the wizard rock community. i mean, is it necessary to have a band for every character that appears in the harry potter books? and, at what point does originality cease to exist? harry and the potters were the first wizard rock band (well, first harry potter wizard rock band, as there definitely have been wizard rock bands in the past, as people are apt to point out...) and though the other bands are writing their own songs with their own takes on the harry potter mythology, it's not very original to cop the idea when someone else did it first and has done it better and has started this genre of harry potter wizard rock?!

though the brothers degeorge do not seem to mind this, it still bothers ME (and here, as i've said before, my opinion is what counts). they even recently organized and performed at what appears to be a very successful rendition of the yule ball. (which i wish that i had been able to attend, however, boston is kind of far from minneapolis)

maybe it was inevitable, though. harry potter has taken over the world in so many ways that perhaps the music world was the next logical choice and if H&tPs hadn't started it then someone else would have. so, perhaps, i shouldn't be so judgmental and i should just go with the flow. if something is going to take over the world, i'd rather it be wizard rock than something horrible. after all, almost all of these bands are anti-voldemort (grrr, draco and the malfoys. grrr....), and thus, anti-evil, so that must be a good thing. it really could be worse.

so, in conclusion, i have no point. just that the number of wizard rock bands is overwhelming. and, if you're looking to start your own, i have some ideas:

the severus snapes
the potion masters
the golden snitches
the gryffindor lions
the squibs
the dementors
the basilisks
the half blood prince
the death eaters
the order of the phoenix
the prophecies (perhaps you could sing about all of madame trelawney's predictions? just an idea!)
gilderoy lockhart and the obliviators
professor quirrell and the turban of doom
wormtail and the silver hands
the flying cars
the muggles
dudley and the dursleys
the fleur delacours
viktor krum and the wronski feints
the veelas
the room of requirement
the tom riddles

and so on...

wizard rock, part une

currently, in my post settings at the bad arts, i have a post in which i rant about wizard rock. well, that is where it will go eventually, because i really feel that there are far too many bands out there writing songs about harry potter books when really there should only be one (the fabulous brothers degeorge and their band, harry and the potters). however, today, i got the best cd ever in the mail (from H&tPs) and it has made me laugh so much and so, in the spirit of christmas and wizardry everywhere, i present to you a downloadable link to "a magical christmas of magic" featuring many wizard rock bands. this is probably very bad of me to do, so please, dear reader, don't share all over the place (i'd rather you support the fine art of wizard rock - at least until i tell you not to), but here you go: a magical christmas of magic -- zipped all nice and pretty for you.

happy holidays! enjoy the gift of music!
(at least until this link expires)

and now for something completely different....

now, we at the bad arts do not like to write about things that do not pertain to music or what we like, as, well, this was set up to be a music blog of sorts, even if the writing is juvenile at times and gushy at others and not always entirely sensical. however, we at the bad arts do have other interests aside from music. we love books! and knitting (it's true!)! and movies! and, maybe more than other things, television! we love television. not the band, mind you, but the medium. television shows are awesome.

it seems that ever since dawson's creek, television has been a way for musicians to expose a larger audience to their work. musicians and songs that fans would never expect to appear on television shows are suddenly popping up on fairly popular shows. the o.c. has become a show for bands to actually showcase their work by performing live at the teenage drama's music venue "the bait shop" as background for the storylines. some even say that this show is what helped put the band death cab for cutie on the map, as it were, due to seth cohen's obsession with the band. i am convinced, by the way, that all people secretly love this show. it's a theory that i won't go into now, but was developed after seeing stephen malkmus and the jicks in june and them playing a snippet of the theme song (california by phantom planet) during the encore while they were being jickish and laissez-faire in their performance.

moving on, though we do love the o.c.and the fact that we've heard such acts as elliott smith, lou barlow, spoon, bloc party, and so on on the show, there is another teenage drama that we love even more: veronica mars. today, pitchfork media released a great little write-up about spoon and we find out that, OHMYGOD, britt daniel is performing on our favorite show!! even though britt has not watched it (or so he says), it's still pretty cool that he's performing on it.

television sometimes really does rock.

and on that note, we're out.