The Mix-Tape Ten: Mike Adams and Shane St. Clair

Today is a two-fer Tuesday (on Wednesday morning)! I'm giving you, not one, but 2 Mix-Tape 10s by some of the coolest dudes ever. That's like a Mix-Tape 20. So, get your CD-Rs together and get ready to impress all of your friends with your music skillz. First up we've got Mr. Mike Adams and then it's on to the unstoppable Shane St. Clair (of The Sin-St. Clair Family Band fame).

There are more than a few people who think Mike Adams might just be the coolest and most influential guy in the Midwest. I happen to fall in that group. Mike Adams is the frontman for the incredible Bloomington band husband&wife, 1/5 of the indie-rock supergroup Prayer Breakfast is a record producer for great bands like Rodeo Ruby Love, and even runs a great record label all while video taping utility board meetings and keeping it real with his wife Jessica and their two cats Two Socks and Peyton Manning. Mike graciously took some time out of his crazy schedule to do a mix-tape here and it's a dandy! Also, click here for a little instant gratification...


Songs I'm Totally Aping Right Now by Mike Adams

1. "I Go Blind" - 54-40 (54-40)

this song was popularized in the late 1990's by hootie and the blowfish. turns out, the original is even better! it's got a real roughness to it that the hit cover lacks, especially in the backing vocals. it's got a real early REM kind of feel to it...great song.

2. "Flaming Home" - Mount Eerie (Lost Wisdom)

it was hard to pick just one song off of this record because i think it's pretty fantastic from front to back, and i've probably listened to it 100 times in the last month. so, here's the "single". it really is a beautiful song.

3. "Time and Energy" - The Delicious (Postcard to My Sewing Circle)

this is the first record in about 4 years that i've listened to more than one time through in a row without changing cds in my car stereo. i love the harmonies in this song that kick in around 1:31. keeps me coming back.

4. "Majik" - Starflyer 59 (Dial M)

this is simultaneously jason martin's most personally revealing and most upbeat song ever. it's a funny combination for someone who's forte is writing songs that are both cryptic lyrically and melancholy musically. the juxtoposition between the sadness of the lyrics and the happiness of the music really speaks to a philosophy in this life that i can relate to. plus it's really catchy.

5. "Over My Head" - Fleetwood Mac (Fleetwood Mac)

this song is as smooth as silk. it just straight up makes me feel good, and that's why i like it. i've spent alot of time with this record on the bus this week.

6. "Unsafest Place" - The Hollows (Darlings of Naught)

this is another really beautiful song. the hook in the chorus gets me right in a spot that no other song in this world ever has. it's really exciting to me that such a thing can still happen, even to a mean old scrooge like me.

7. "Breaker" - Retribution Gospel Choir (Retribution Gospel Choir)

forget about fake-heavy songs. leave them in the dust and listen to this album.

8. "The Introducing" - Vollmar (Tell the Dirt- not pictured)

i had the pleasure of hearing this song in various stages through the creation of this particular recording. listen to the piano jam on at the end (it starts at 2:28). it's totally thrilling. and i mean every ounce of that word - thrilling.

9. "Me and My Arrow / The Game" - Harry Nilsson (The Point!)

i'm not much of a dancer. i think it's wierd and prehistoric. but, this song makes me want to jump up and boogie every time it comes on. this is not a joke to be funny. i'm dead serious.

10. "The Ecstacy (insomnia plus one)" - Elephant Micah (Embarassment of Riches)

this is another one of those records where i had a really hard time picking just one song for this mixtape. every single song on this record is as good as the one before it. i'd kill for this guitar tone... please, buy this record from the guy who made it.

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Shane St. Clair is a guy that shouldn't need an introduction because he is, hands-down, my favorite keyboard player ever. He also happens to be one of my best friends, and thankfully plays in the same band as I do! He is an burgeoning economist and is also incredibly adept at playing the drums, guitar, and bass. He is a true musician who can cross the often un-crossable borders of rock and jazz and pop and never falter a step. It's nothing for him to play a 4 hour set at a posh jazz spot and then play in a gritty dive bar the next night, heck, sometimes in the same night! Here he has graced us with his ultimate mix-tape.




My Ultimate Mix-Tape by Shane St. Clair

1. "Ce Matin La" by Air (off 1998's Moon Safari)

This is Moon Safari's opener - one of the best album openers that I've heard in a long while, so it's also my mix opener. It's difficult in my mind to put anything beyond Ce Matin La that matches its grandeur, and while the rest of Moon Safari falls short of it's opener, this mix does not.

2. "Lady Luck" by Richard Swift (off 2008's Ground Trouble Jaw EP)

Motown's back. This is a cut off Swift's latest EP, it's 100% free on his Myspace to download!

3. "In Particular" by Blonde Redhead (off 2000's Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons)

Bogart's in Cincinatti - early winter 2004. This unknown band (to me) opened up for the highly revered (at the time) Interpol during their Antics tour. For people who have seen Blonde Redhead, you know that they're not good openers, because more then likely their show trumps all, including the headliner; this was exactly the case that night.

4. "Fallout" by The Futureheads (off 2006's News and Tributes)

Post-punk from England. No one took their debut seriously (it was kind of a joke), but the band hit their stride on their sophomore try. I listen to this album a lot when it's cold out...here's a slice.

5. "Song for Zelbert Moore" by Martin Dosh (off 2002's Dosh)

This dude is the talented drummer/keyboard player/looper genius that's played on Andrew Bird's latest couple of albums. He makes his own music too!

6. "Good Kids Make Bad Grownups" by Ariel Pink (off 2004's The Doldrums)

this is lo-fi at it's smallest bitrate. 'Growing up isn't half as fun as growing down.'

7. "Crossing Lines" by The Sea and Cake (off 2007's Everybody)

This is Chicago band that's all about layers, texture, and drive. Also check out 'One Bedroom'.

8. "Sideways Down" by The Frames (off 2004's Burn the Maps)

Everyone now knows the singer from that one movie (google Glen Hansard), but check out his band and this particular album - brilliant from start to finish, you have my word.

9. "Cats Eyes" by The Guillemots (off 2006's From the Cliff's EP)

Okay the Guillemots are weird. But sometimes I think I've never heard more beautifully orchestrated music in my life.

10. "A Window" by The Radio Dept (off 2006's Pet Grief)

This is a band I got deep deep into last year, and they're virtually unknown (why?), they are champions of texture.

Exclusive Interview with Author Amanda Petrusich!

*photo by Bret Stetka

It seems that the whole world is busy these days. There's always something to do and it seems that everyone is on overdrive. Very few people are probably as busy as the acclaimed blogger-turned-author Amanda Petrusich, yet she seems to have a ridiculously heightened sense of appreciation for the small things in life. She is a senior staff writer for the venerable print music publication Paste Magazine, a contributor for the seminal Pitchfork Media, and even a frequent contributor for The Onion, NY Times, and a boat load of other important publications. She even did an installment for the 33 1/3 series on the phenomenal album Pink Moon by Nick Drake. She is a phenomenal writer who seems to not quite fit in with the jaded bashing that often is inherent in music critique. She seems to care much more for the personal details involved in the record than record itself. I don't blame her, and I'm glad she does.

Here, this immensely talented writer graciously agreed to let me ask her a few questions about her recent book It Still Moves. (By the way, it's incredibly intimidating to interview a professional interviewer, but I'm excited how it turned out.)


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GLIu: Obviously, you are a true fan of music and an incredible writer, at what point did you decide to join those two ideas?

Amanda: For as long as I can remember, I always thought being a music critic was the coolest job in the world, but to be honest, I never really considered it a viable profession – it seemed like something other people got to do. In college, I studied English Literature but focused most of my energy on creative writing, which was what I loved the most. Eventually, I realized that every story or essay I wrote would become, in a sense, about music – you know, if I was writing a scene in a café, it became about the Dylan song that was playing in the background.

GLIu: Where did you get the time to write a book amidst all of the freelance writing that you do?

Amanda: This was a challenge – writing a book requires a completely different kind of discipline than cranking out 100-word record reviews. There’s a certain amount of immersion involved – once you get deep enough into it, you either can’t or don’t want to think about anything else at all. You live and breathe the story, as clichéd as that sounds. I ended up taking a few months off from freelancing to travel and work on the book exclusively, but when I was doing both simultaneously, I had to compartmentalize – you know, do my weekly assignments on Mondays and Tuesdays, work on the book the rest of the week. One of the hardest things about writing full-time is being really diligent about scheduling.

GLIu: There seems to be a theme in your book about the importance of individual's experiences as a means of tracking trends in the American musical landscape. Is that something that you did consciously?

Amanda: I was relatively conflicted, at first, about whether or not I wanted to write this book in the first-person, but ultimately that’s what felt most comfortable to me, and that was kind of story I wanted to tell. There’s nothing objective about this music – from its creation to its dissemination to its interpretation, it’s all informed by individual experience, right? I also didn’t want the book to seem definitive – this is my understanding of this story, this is what I hear and love, and it’s going to be different for everyone.

GLIu: Your book reads much like a wonderful road trip. How long did it take you do all of the traveling?

Amanda: The book took 18 months to write. The longest consecutive amount of time I was on the road was about 4 weeks, and then I went back to certain places to fill in the blanks (the trip I take to Vermont, at the end of the book, was separate from the original southern itinerary). I was in Mississippi three times, Memphis twice.

GLIu: While reading your book, it also seemed that you felt the need to experience these places of interest and dig into the details like the exact content of the room of your nightly lodging and the food at local restaurants, etc. Do you think that its necessary to experience the things that somebody like Lead Belly or The Carter Family would have experienced in their surroundings to better understand how they came up with their music?

Amanda: Absolutely. For me, all that stuff is just as interesting as the kind of guitar someone played. Who says art isn’t affected by what the artist ate for breakfast? I think every aspect of someone’s environment ultimately seeps into the work that they do, in obvious or not so obvious ways. I think that music – that all art, really – is inextricably tied to place, and that relationship is incredibly compelling to me. I didn’t see any other way to talk about this music. And then, in terms of my own personal journey, I wanted the reader to know those details, too – and how they might be coloring my impression of that particular place.

GLIu: How do you think your particular surroundings of Brooklyn influence your art?

Amanda: I have a love/hate relationship with New York City, which I think is fairly common amongst people who live here – there are non-city things I covet (having a garden, having a front porch, having a dog), but I also love being privy to such a staggering display of cultural/social/economic diversity (and being able to walk everywhere). Working on the book, coming from Brooklyn, it was especially interesting because Brooklyn is also where a lot of old Americana music is currently being synthesized and reinvented – readapted to this new, strange, urban place.

GLIu: Your book mentions several current artists who are carrying the American music flag like Sam Beam, Calexico, and Louisville's very own Will Oldham as folks who are marrying their own aesthetic ideals with the grit and texture of their folks-y forefathers/mothers. Are there any other bands that you think do this as well, or any current bands or other artists who excite you?

Amanda: Sure, tons: I really love the new Fleet Foxes LP. I also like Bowerbirds, from North Carolina, and Horse Feathers, from Portland, Oregon. And in Brooklyn, I’ve been really into a local band called Hymns. Oh, and Those Darlins’, from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, have a kind of Freakwater country-punk thing. I think they’re working on a debut LP.

GLIu: You have been known to write insightful pieces for quality publications like Paste and 33 1/3 and groundbreaking internet spots like Pitchfork and The Onion, what made you want to go the route of book-writing?

Amanda: I have an MFA in nonfiction writing, and I’ve always been really interested in long-form literary nonfiction (In Cold Blood is my favorite book). Especially now, with print media existing in a state of semi-panic, there’s not a lot of space for long, time-intensive pieces, which, as a writer, I’ve always found the most exciting – just having the time and space to really commit to a subject or story.

GLIu: How is it having to deal with a publishing company as opposed to publications for which you freelance?

Amanda: It’s a totally different experience. I was lucky to find such a loving home at Faber and Faber, and they were remarkably hands-off through the entire process – it felt, to me, like they were investing in me as a writer (oh man, that sounds so pretentious!), and less so in my book. They trusted my instincts and kind of just let me go, which I’m so incredibly thankful for -- they let me write the book I wanted to write. With magazines, there’s often a bit more of an agenda involved, and I don’t necessarily mean that as a criticism, it’s just a different business – a magazine might have a house style, or more space/length constraints, or different reader expectations, or whatever.

GLIu: How does one get the nerve to be a freelance writer full-time in the big city (or any city)?

Amanda: It certainly takes a bit of hubris, doesn’t it? I was terrified to quit my job and start doing this full-time, and even now, five years later, it can still be terrifying. There’s no financial security whatsoever, and freelancing is a bit of a hustle – you’re constantly pitching stories, corresponding with publicists, coming up with new ideas, listening to records, reading magazines and newspapers, and trying to figure out your role within all that noise. But it’s also the greatest job in the world, on a good day – you’ve got a lot of freedom, and you get to spend all your time doing something you love in the service of something else you love.

and, lastly

GLIu: Being a musician who has released a record that I worked on for a year, I have always felt that having a big project like that must be similar to having and carrying a baby. When you finally release it there is this huge relief and yet a sense of apprehension because now you have to take care of it and help it grow! Maybe it was just me, but can you relate to that at all?

Amanda: Dude, YES. I actually think the month the book came out was the most difficult of my career. I felt completely exposed and shy and crazy and paranoid – you spend eighteen months holed up in your apartment, alone with this fragile little thing, and then all of a sudden it’s out there in the world and PEOPLE ARE READING IT. I kind of wanted to die. I think some writers or musicians feel enormously validated and gratified and excited, but I was just paralyzed with fear. And you also feel so incredibly lucky and fortunate that it’s happening at all, and I think that whenever you’re feeling particularly lucky, you also feel a little bit guilty – you know, what did I do to deserve this?

GLIu: I couldn't think of anyone better.

Netflix Nebulous: Vol 4

It is now time to get back to the good ole movie summarizing that this fella likes to do so much. I have been a busy boy and haven't had much time for movie watching, but I snuck in a few here and there and in between moments and have lived to tell about it. I have to say that sometimes you just don't feel like watching a movie. Sometimes I want to read a book (like It Still Moves or Kevin Zraly's Windows of the World Wine Course)

Jean Luc Godard's Band of Outsiders (1964)
I know, I know what you're thinking..."French movies are so unbearable to watch!" and "These old movies are so sloooooooooow" or even "I can't stand having to read subtitles". ANYWAY, now that we have that out of the way, please understand that this movie is an absolute delight in every way. Godard was a big fan of the dime-store novel crime stories and this is what came out of his fascination. It is a crime story involving a love-triangle-plagued group of restless young adults who aren't quite sure what to do with themselves. It is gorgeously shot, meticulously written, and funny as all get-out (I don't really know what "all get-out is", but I think it's REALLY funny.) This is a bona-fide classic movie for all the right reasons. Perfect cast, perfect script and the dancing scene which has been cribbed by a boat-load of folks, especially Tarantino in Pulp Fiction, is one of the most fun scenes ever put onto magnetic tape. And that's no hyperbole.



Garth Jennings' Son of Rambow (2007)
I hadn't initially heard a whole lot about this one other than the fact that it had made quite the splash on the festival circuit and that it was quickly becoming a critical darling. The basic premise of the movie is that this boy is in an uber-conservative family that suppresses him on every angle and he rebels and starts re-making the classic testosto-fest Rambo. He enlists the help of an unlikely friend and the movie chronicles the making of their movie. I'm sure Jennings' didn't intend for it to be this way, but the movie comes across as a near-retread of the recent Michel Gondry flick Be Kind Rewind in style (editors note: Gondry's flick only came out 2 months before so the idea that it directly steals from it is ludicrous but the similarities are definitely there). All that aside, it was quite the fun little movie and I think it was a good idea with an even greater execution. Definitely worth seeing.



Jody Hill's The Foot Fist Way (2006)
I am one who distrusts hype. The nature of the great hype-machine is a false sentiment. Most of the time, the hype about a movie or song or whatever can be traced back to a benefitting party (i.e. a studio, label, etc). But, there are times when I let some hope in my heart that a movie or record or whatever will be as good, if not better, than I hear it is. I had heard quite a bit about The Foot Fist Way and was excited about it mostly because I think it's lead character Danny McBride is downright hilarious. He was in the brilliant All the Real Girls by David Gordon Green, and this supposed-star-turning vehicle for him was so well recieved at the festivals that Will Ferrell himself financed it's wide release. To make a long story longer, it was pretty disappointing. That's not to say that it had its moments of pure hilarity for sure, but the film lacked a definitive character development and played out much like the man-child disintegration story that Will Ferrell has bank-rolled on. Also, the adult-themed nature of some of the segments kind of killed the fun of it at times as well. Oh well.


Band of Outsiders- Rating: A

Son of Rambow- Rating: B

The Foot Fist Way- Rating: C+

Enjoy.

The Mix Tape Ten (New and Improved!!)

Just like John Cusack, I love the idea of a good mix-tape. I've kind of been having a hard time coming up with anything for this consistently so I was trying to think of a good way to do this column and then I thought: "I'll have other people do it!" "What a great idea, Scott!" "Thanks!"

So, for Round 1 of this new take on the series I am enlisting the help of one of my favorite musician folks. He weighs in with a list highlighting our descent into Halloween madness.

Jamie Barnes isn't your average singer-songwriter. He's actually good! Seriously though, Jamie weaves haunting narratives together with his pensive guitar playing. He has put out 3 critically-acclaimed records and is currently on the sonaBLAST Records roster with folks like The Old Ceremony and Ben Sollee. I can thankfully also call him a good friend and his heart is somehow even bigger than his talent. He's a good dude. Here he makes his mark with his Top 10 Murder Ballads.




Murder Ballads and other tragic songs by Jamie Barnes

#1 "Where the Wild Roses Grow" - Nick Cave off of Murder Ballads. It'd be hard not to include Cave on this list. This is the song that should be the primary wikipedia entry for the genre.







#2 "Nebraska" - Bruce Springsteen off of Nebraska. Cuz its boss.









#3 "Caleb Meyer" - Gillian Welch off of Hell Among the Yearlings. Best song about rape retribution.








#4 "Clara" - Scott Walker off of The Drift. Not so much a murder ballad as it is an account of an execution. Mussolini and his mistress are the subject matter in this creepy yarn complete with a session percussionist punching a slab of meat. Can't imagine what that smelled like in the recording studio.






#5 "Poor Edward" - Tom Waits off of Alice. Again - a stretch as far as topic wise. But its about a man taking his demise into his own hands after succumbing to the taunts of the second head that grew atop his shoulders! Creepy!!! Along with Cave, Waits is one of the founding fathers of the genre.





#6 "Outlaw Song" - Sixteen Horsepower off of Folklore. - brilliant adaptation of this traditional tune. Ends with the kick ass line: "Two were dead before they could move - that's my name. "







#7 "Stabbed in the Heart" - Jim White off of Wrong-Eyed Jesus. What sounds like a cliche metaphor is actually a literal chest puncture wound.







#8 "Until The Morning Comes" - Tindersticks off of Waiting for the Moon. A dark, gruesome text hidden amongst a sweet lullaby delivery. Wonderful!








#9. "Duk Koo Kim" - Sun Kil Moon off of Ghosts of the Great Highway. A historical accident - not a murder. Ray Mancini killed his South Korean opponent in a boxing match...No one tells such a yearning, heartbreaking story like Kozelek does.





#10. "Yeah, Oh Yeah!" - Magnetic Fields off of 69 Love Songs. A humorous one to end with to avoid 100% melancholy. Only Stephen Merritt can make you laugh while reciting a dialog between dueling lovers. This also ends with a blade in the aorta.





Honorable Mention: "Hey Joe" - Jimi Hendrix off of Are You Experienced? - Everybody did this song back in the day...but no one owned it like Jimi.

Book Review: It Still Moves by Amanda Petrusich

Title: It Still Moves: Lost Songs, Lost Highways, and the Search for the Next American Music
Author: Amanda Petrusich
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Released: Fall of 2008
Rating: A+








If you are like me and every other twenty-whatever-year old then you occasionally (or maybe all the time) flip through Paste Magazine or click through Pitchfork getting all the best info on all of your favorite bands, some hyper-critical reviews, and a face-to-face introduction to a slew of bands that you can't stop listening to. I have been a fairly avid follower of both over the past couple of years, and I started to notice something a little over a year ago. A lot of my favorite pieces and reviews happened to have the same name stamped below them; that name was Amanda Petrusich. So, naturally when I read on Pitchfork about Ms. Petrusich writing and releasing a book about the American Musical Landscape, I couldn't wait to read it!! I later caught an excerpt from the book and it only whetted my appetite for what seemed to be an incredible dissection of American music and how to draw a line from the past to the present.

The book is told as a travelogue. Amanda hopped in her car and drove to Memphis to learn everything she could about Americana and American music. Her travels lead her through sleepy little Mississippi hallows, through the denim throes of Nashville/Cashville, and even on up to a wintry hamlet in New England. Along the way she stops everywhere in between and lets you know about it all.

The thing I love about this book is that it is concerned with the details more than the big picture. Petrusich seems to be more concerned with what Ramblin' Jack Elliott would have had for dinner than anything else. But, Amanda Petrusich is privy to the fact that you can't appreciate the big picture fully, until you've combed through the little dots that make it up.

Her beach-combing is never pretentious or hurtful(an often-fault of Pitchfork), and it has a way of humanizing the mythology that has so vastly engulfed American music history. People like Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Lead Belly, and the Carter Family are stuff of legends and Ms. Petrusich takes them off their pedestal with kid-gloves and carefully peels away the layers as if in an archaeological dig. When she's finished dusting off the cobwebs of these great American heroes, the seem tangible and fragile, and even more special because of it. This would be a great feat in itself, but the fact that it is blended so effortlessly with her seemingly endless knowledge about everything from Lomax to Will Oldham and everywhere in between is staggering and humbling. She has done her homework folks, and not just in facts and figures, in body and soul as well, in heart and in soil. She paints with every color in the spectrum, a seemingly endless pallet.

I couldn't recommend this book more because of her understanding of the importance of the small things and relating that to such a wonderful enterprise like American music. It's just one of those books where I neglect reading the last chapter for quite some time just in order to not let it end.

Highly, highly recommended. Check Amazon, or whatever. But buy it!!!!


P.s. She just happens to be an incredibly kind and accommodating person as well. Tops in my book.

Notable Nights: Mount Eerie at Skull Alley 10/22

If you have read this blog recently then you are well aware of my affinity for the new Mount Eerie record Lost Wisdom. Last night, I had the pleasure of seeing Mount Eerie along with Julie Doiron, Calm Down It's Monday, and Matty Pop Chart at Skull Alley, and I can safely say that it was one of my favorite shows of all time. Period.

I had tried to get some friends to go with me to this show, but no one was really biting the hook except for my buddy Matt who was going to meet me up there. He is basically the only other person I knew that would be there, and I feared that very few people would show up except I knew that Matt Tobey (from Good Luck) was doing a solo set as his solo act Matty Pop Chart. The Good Luck show was very well attended so I figured there'd be some trickle from that, but I wasn't aware of Mount Eerie being popular in town.

I got there a little later than I wanted to but just in time to see Matt Tobey start the night. I hadn't listened to a lot of his solo stuff so I wasn't sure what to expect from him. I love, love, love his band Good Luck so I was just preparing myself to have a great time. He played about 8 songs (a few with some help) and just floored me and Matt with his heart-shattering songs that took the intellect of his writing in Good Luck and married it with an intimacy you can only get in a one-man band. His songs are honest and open, brutal and vulnerable simultaneously. He also got major bonus points for telling one of the funniest stories I've ever heard about a dream where his friend learned about an alleycat's "true name" which was 8 Houses. Moral of the story: don't ever call a cat by it's True Name.

Next up was Calm Down, It's Monday which is a collaboration between Fred Squire (who did the electric guitar on Lost Wisdom) and Julie Doiron (who did the harmonies). I had heard a couple of songs on MySpace and was really excited to see them because I loved what I had heard. Their one song called "The Sweetest May" (which closed out their set) is fantastic! Even Fred calls it (with his tongue glued to his cheek) his "real hit song." Calm Down, It's Monday is the only band that I could ever describe as delicate riff-rock. Fred looks like he had come straight from working under the hood of an old '32 Vicky somewhere in Iowa. The only exception would be his neon green thong-sandals that were a nice touch. He is a lean man, with wiry fingers that coax soul out of his Ibanez hollow-body while he sings starkly, yet warm like a blue-collar family member. Julie softly sat behind him with an occasional perfect harmony stumbling forth in between her minimalist drumming. He was very funny on the mic as well in between songs. During this set, I actually looked over to my left and next to my buddy Max just happened to be standing one of my biggest musical influences of all time, Will Oldham. I got instant butterflies as I came to the realization that him and I might just like the same bands!! I went from Zero to Superfan in about .3 seconds.

Fred and Julie then switched places as Julie paced through a set of her own post-Eric's Trip songs. She has released several records since the demise of her seminal Canadian rock band, and she has honed a craft so delicate and strong that you fall in love the moment she sets her fingers to the strings, and her voice to the air. She has an amazing command of her voice which is reminiscent of another Candadian Crooning Beauty named Leslie Feist. Another buddy J, said that she was like Cat Power, but with a lot more talent. I didn't disagree. Her set was stunning and so were her boots made out of light blue jeans which nestled snuggly underneath her dark blue jeans. Blue jeans on blue jeans.

Phil Elverum then set up a line of 3 folding chairs on the edge of the stage for him, Julie, and Fred to perch on and perform as he kindly and meekly asked us all if we wanted to sit down. The three of them wandered through each wonderful track of Lost Wisdom in the same order that it was on the record. Elverum admitted his reservations about doing the same set every night, but that he felt like it was much better than he thought it would be. I wouldn't have had it any other way. Each song gripped me like welcome hug. I sang every word like I was 16 and didn't care what cool person would think I was lame for singling along. The songs were mesmerizing and cathartic, emotional and calming. I have not felt so overjoyed with music in a long time. Phil closed the set out with another 3 wonderful songs from the Mount Eerie catalog and didn't disappoint a smidgeon.

Shortly after they played I wandered into the other room to pick up a few records (I got a real copy of Lost Wisdom and Julie Doiron's Goodnight Nobody) and eventually got to meet Mr Bonnie "Prince" Billy himself. I know this might not be a big deal for some people, but his song "Hard Life" is one of my favorite songs EVER and there are only a few musicians/artists who are a bigger influence on me and their names are Bob Dylan and Robert Zimmerman. This was a big moment for me. I didn't know if I wanted to talk to him though because if he turned out to be a jerk then it might ruin the whole thing for me. But, I felt compelled to profess my love for his music to him and guess what....he was one of the nicest and most genuinely appreciative musicians I've ever met. He let me tell him how much I looked up to him and how much I love "Hard Life" and then he got us into talking about how awesome Mount Eerie was. I'm still on cloud 9. It was magic.

Made my week for many.

Post Script

Don't forget about the Mt. Eerie show tonight!!!

I can't wait!

An Enthusiast's Guide to Woody Allen

There's no questioning the polarity that seems to be caused by Woody Allen. There are a large number of people that think he is way too self-involved and pretentious with his artsy-fartsy schmaltz and the false intellectualism he hangs over his movies to make them inaccessible to common folk. I am not one of these people as we've already established. I don't necessarily think those people totally wrong, but I disagree. So, if you're still with me and are ready for a last trip into Woody-land then buckle your seat belts for a few of Woody's films that are either, at times, a little bit more under the radar, or only for those of us who buy into the whole nonsense that makes a Woody Allen film a Woody Allen film. These are a few of my favorites which scratch a little bit deeper under the surface.

What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1967)- This was Woody's first film of sorts and it is possibly his least initially palatable (which is saying something). This movie is actually a Japanese spy movie called The Key of Keys that the studio purchased for $66,000. They then hired Allen to rewrite the script and overdub the vocal tracks and it turned into a hilarious send-up of spy movies with its over-the-top plot about a stolen egg salad recipe. It's a lot of fun.

Rating: B

Play It Again, Sam (1972)- This is a fan-favorite for many reasons. One is the ridiculous and ridiculously entertaining appearances by Humphrey Bogart's ghost giving Sam advice about everything including how to schmooze on the 100% lovable Diane Keaton. Keaton hauls in one of her best performances and the script, about a film critic who has his heart broken, is one of Allen's most enjoyable. Allen has been known for bending the lines and breaking the 4th Wall and any other film rule, and this film is a great example of him creating his own genre.

Rating: A-

Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex* But Were Afraid To Ask (1972)- 1972 was a successful year for Allen as he put out Play It Again, Sam and this ridiculous piece. This is actually 7 different short films that all are hypothetically based off of the book by Dave Reuben. The best pieces are the one where Gene Wilder falls in love with a sheep and an inside look at what happens during the seduction process. This is definitely not for everyone, but for those looking for a high-caliber, low-brow romp, this is for you!

Rating: B

Manhattan (1979)- There are quite a few people who think that this is Allen's greatest film, and on a lot of levels they are right. The incredible blend of George Gershwin's subtle swing, the camera work of Gordon Willis, and Allen's air-tight script about everyone's desire to love and be loved no matter the consequences makes for one of the most enchanting stories ever filmed. The characters are pitch-perfect especially an Oscar-nod-worthy one by Mariel Hemingway as Allen's 17-year-old girlfriend. A paternal match to Miranda July's Me and You and Everyone You Know.

Rating: A

Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)- Never before has a film about infidelity and guilt and murder been so enjoyable. Martin Landau plays an eye-doctor who is cheating on his wife with a younger Anjelica Huston who flips out and decides she is going to be together or she'll tell the missus! Insanity and conscience-questioning ensue as the story also follows a young documentarian and the woman of his dreams who is also being courted by a Hollywood Suit who is just begging to get socked in the kisser (Alan Alda). Probably the last Allen film of its type to marry humor and guilt so symbiotically.

Rating: A

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I hope you have enjoyed our little foray into all thing Woody Allen and know that there are even some gems that I didn't mention, and with a few films that just came out or are in post-production, it doesn't look like he's going to be slowing down anytime soon.

The 5 Spot: The Great Crossover: Musicians Turned Actors

We all love a good crossover (collectively). If we didn't then Shania Twain and Ja Rule wouldn't dominate the pop charts every now and again (or at one point), Ronald Reagan wouldn't have been president, or Ole Blue Eyes never would have mixed around with Gene Kelly. The crazy thing about crossover artists or figures or whatever is that its so easy for it to go very wrong (read: Michael Jordan's baseball career). I really admire when someone makes the leap successfully. And by successfully I'm not talking financially, but on the basis of artistic merit. And, of course, I judge it by my own criteria. That's how opinions work. Here's a few musicians that I think did a fine job making the jump to movies whether it was a brief stint or still going to this day:


#1: Art Garfunkel in Carnal Knowledge: Everybody knows this goldilocks for having the sweetest vocal chords anyone's ever heard. Half of Simon and Garfunkel, he was the high-register love that came lilting out of your headphones. What a natural choice for a Mike Nichols film, right?! When this film came out about a handful of sexually confused and frustrated co-eds (namely Jack Nicholson, Art, Candice Bergen, and Ann-Margaret), nobody knew what to do with it because everyone wants Garfunkel to be this cherubic figure. It's a classic! Of course it wasn't the first time that Nichols and Garfunkel had collaborated...
Rating: B+
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#2: Meat Loaf in Fight Club: These days, he's a really nice dad that's going to get that cool new phone for his kid, but back in the day, he used to be totally hardcore!! This bat outta hell, has sold millions and millions of records and happens to have been a part of spawning backyard battle clubs and obsessive midnight movie revues. In this fisticuff festivus, he is a man with an unfortunate problem. Also, you might remember that his name was Robert Paulson.
Rating: B+



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#3: David Bowie in The Prestige: The easy route here would be to talk about Labyrinth, but we all know about that one and Bowie isn't exactly a man that needs an introduction. I did enjoy his subtle, yet creepy portrayal of Tesla in this Christian Bale vehicle. A fairly phenomenal movie from someone who knows what he's doing, and its a lot of fun with a pretty great twist!
Rating: B





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#4: Tom Waits in Down By Law: Tom Waits is another one of those dudes whose career needs no embellishing, glossing over, or paraphrasing. It's depth and breadth suggest that canonization is inevitable, but I particularly love this turn of his in this crazy, depressing, and fun film of indie darling Jim Jarmusch.
Rating: A





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#5: Mark Wahlberg in I Heart Huckabees: He's just a squirrel trying to get a nut, and there's nothing wrong with that. His film career is not lacking good flicks, but I really like this pop-culture pscho-analytic freakout. Q: How is he not himself? A: When he's Marky Mark.
Rating: A-








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