BurlingtoneZ

Go for the music

2005-12-12T11:16:00.000-05:00

Straying further from live concert reviews I thought I’d talk about a movie I saw recently. I know you’re thinking “why write about a box office movie on a music blog?” The reason: great music at a cheap price. The movie is the on-screen adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s Tony-winning Broadway show Rent. The movie itself is not spectacular and hasn’t been getting great reviews. Most fingers have been pointed at producer Chris Columbus (Fantastic Four, first three Harry Potters) for bringing the play to the screen but doing little to add to it or re-invent the material.

The play is significant to me for many reasons and I’ve been able to see it a couple times. While seeing the movie can’t compare to the Broadway production I personally enjoyed the movie a lot. No matter who the producer or director, there was no way anyone could ruin Larson’s overpowering musical score. Most of the actors and actresses in the movie were in the original Broadway show and re-recorded all the songs for the movie. Where the re-invention of material was lacking was made up for in the new recordings of the music.

This play has significance in my life because my father, brother, and I have a genetic disorder called Marfan syndrome. A deficient connective tissue protein that is found in many stabilizing structures of the body characterizes the disorder. The area of highest concern is the aorta, the body’s largest artery, which carries blood away from the heart. Weak connective tissues in the aorta lead to a progressive destabilization and eventual rupture if untreated. Many people don’t know about the disorder and doctors often fail to make a diagnosis. My father and I are lucky that an early diagnosis was made and we were able to undergo preventative surgeries, which should allow us to live long, fulfilling lives. Not everyone is so lucky.

On January 25, 1996, a month or so after my father’s heart surgery, the playwright Jonathan Larson died of an aortic aneurysm in New York City. Larson’s Broadway musical, Rent, which premiered a week after his death and went on to dominate the Tony Awards that year. It was found out posthumously that Jonathan had Marfan syndrome and was misdiagnosed twice when he went to two different New York City hospitals complaining of chest pains. He died a few days after the failed diagnosis, alone in his apartment.

Whether you’re into Broadway plays or not I strongly suggest you go see Rent in the theaters, if nothing else, go for the great music.

Finally Some Legit Info

2005-12-11T18:20:00.000-05:00

Well, I’ve gotten some insider information from someone very involved in securing a band for Springfest (divulged to me at the bar). I’ve been told that both Trey and Tenacious D turned us down. My source has gone to the school to ask for more money. He’s convinced that if he gets the money he’s asked for he can get Jack Johnson to come. If UVM doesn’t pony up the cash we’re likely to get disappointed with another middle level band. Keep your fingers crossed.

More thoughts on Springfest

2005-12-09T12:46:00.000-05:00

Well, I’ve done a little recon. The three acts that seem to be front-runners for Springfest don’t have any concerts up on their websites for mid-April (Kanye West, Trey, and Tenacious D). Trey’s playing some random shows in California early in 2006 and Tenacious D hasn’t performed since July 16 of this year and has nothing on the docket. I was surprised to see that back in September of 2001 they played Higher Ground.

Getting even more bizarre is the fact that their last show was at Comic-Con in San Diego, the nerd convention of comic books and Xena Warrior Princess-esque shows. People may recognize the event from the Entourage episode where Johnny Drama dons a viking outfit and signs autographs. He was on a short running show called Viking Quest for a few years and was milking it for all it’s worth.

I was surprised to see that Kanye West does play a lot of college shows on his tour. But, the key word there is tour. If it’s not worked into a tour than there’s no way he’s coming up here to VT for a solo appearance. Same with many of the other acts, just because the dates apparently open now doesn’t mean they’re willing to play then, or aren’t playing somewhere else. The blogger, Mitch Cumstein, commented on my original Springfest blog that Kanye, Beck, and Tenacious D won’t be coming. While I tend to agree with him, it’s based on speculation on my part and I’d like to know why he’s so sure of himself.

I don’t mean to sound like a pessimist about Springfest but in reality I’m just trying to throw a little fuel on the fire. I don’t want to be disappointed when I find out J Five’s coming back for another year. I feel like the planners have got to come through this year after tempting us with all these big names. They wouldn’t tease us like that would they?

Skepticism around campus is high with those that I’ve talked to. Most people think that our chances are slim to none of getting almost any of the acts listed on the UVM Bored survey. But hell, I’ve never talked to a promoter or booked a show and I’m pretty sure no one I talked to has either. So for now I’ll have a little faith. I just hope we don’t get disappointed with some shit band. I don’t know if I’ll laugh or cry.

Final Post

2005-12-08T10:45:00.000-05:00

For my final post of the semester I'll keep it as simple as possible by sharing the truest words that have ever been spoken...

Washa Uffize and drive me to Firenze

-i'm out

Upcoming Shows in NYC

2005-12-08T10:37:00.000-05:00

What my ideal concert schedule would be for winter break:

Badfish (Sublime Tribute) w/ Roots Down Below
12/23 at B.B. King's Blues Club

Gov't Mule
12/29 at the Beacon Theatre

then mosey on over to...

Assembly of Dust
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
The Hachensaw Boys
also 12/29 at Irving Plaza

Go'vt Mule
12/30 at the Beacon

The New Deal
12/31 at B.B. King's

I'll probably end up just seeing New Deal... but it's all good.

A little philosophy?

2005-12-08T10:13:00.000-05:00

As Jack Black says in High Fidelity:

"Rob, top five musical crimes perpetuated by Stevie Wonder in the '80s and '90s. Go. Sub-question: is it in fact unfair to criticize a formerly great artist for his latter day sins, is it better to burn out or fade away?"

This question of whether it's better to "burn out or fade away" is a topic that always makes for interesting debates. One one hand, Kurt Cobain's music clearly become more reputed by a larger fanbase after his death. But perhaps this is only because he wrote darker music that is glorified by death. Would Ricky Martin's music be exhalted if he were to die?

While Paul McCartney is well respected by many, the mere concept of John Lennon has become idolic. McCartney hasn't made anything that good since the Beatles (my opinion). Maybe this is because they needed to work together. I don't know. But this shows that there are negative aspects of "burning out," because if you can't connect with the same amount of people that you could in your prime, you are considered washed-up.

Movies are being made like crazy about musicians that have died. One specifically is Walk the Line. If you've seen this movie, I think you will agree that there was NOTHING compelling about the life of Johnny Cash. He was unfaithful to his wife, and got hooked on some drugs. That's it. I mean there have been many great movies where not much happens, but they develop the movie in other ways... character development? love story? any plot twist at all? Walk the Line fell short.

So I don't know whether or not it's better to "burn out or fade away," but if I ever become a famous musician I will simply disappear, and then reappear 4 years later, then I will make a boatload of money on the whole scam. Then I'll take the money and make a really boring movie about my life that everyone will go see.

Stadium Arcadium

2005-12-08T09:57:00.000-05:00

Stadium Arcadium (2005–present)

The band [RHCP] is currently finishing the mixing on their ninth studio album, Stadium Arcadium, scheduled for a worldwide release in March/April 2006 (RollingStone.com). They played a free concert in Las Vegas to celebrate the city's 100th anniversary with Weezer on July 2nd, 2005, where they played two new songs, "21st Century" and "Readymade". In August 2005 they performed a new song called "Tell Me Baby" at the AmsterJam Festival in New York.

The band spent seven months writing and rehearsing before entering the studio to record. Flea commented: "There are also a lot of fucked up aspects to it, all kinds of flaws and dirt that I like to hear on records.", John Frusciante commenting: "There's heavier stuff than the band's ever done, and there's also a lot of beautiful, soaring melodies, I feel like everybody's taking their instrument to a new level." Frusciante stated that his favorite track on the album is "Only 18."

Chad has recently confirmed that the first of two albums from the new recording sessions will be released on March 31st 2006, with the second coming out early in 2007. The band has confirmed certain songs to appear on the new albums, titled:

Desecration Smile
21st Century
Readymade
Tell Me Baby
Especially Michigan
Only 18
Charlie

The Californian rockers are also planning a world tour starting April 2006 following the release of Stadium Arcadium. Flea recently stated the following: "It's very honest music, and I feel like we improved as craftsmen. We recorded a huge quantity of music," he said. "We're so in the middle of it, so it's hard to step back and look at it, but we think it's the best stuff we've ever done."

The Red Hot Chili Peppers will make an appearence on Spike TVs 2005 Video gaming awards which will be airing on December 10 at 9 p.m. EST.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hot_Chili_Peppers

Meeting the Matis

2005-12-08T09:40:00.000-05:00

One of my cooler moments this semester:

About a month ago, Matisyahu came to Higher Ground to perform. But this is not a post about the show.. which was the illest... but this is actually more about the night prior to the show.

I recieved an invitation from a friend of mine to come down to the Chabad House for dinner. I was told that Matisyahu would be joining them in prayer for their friday night service. I was very excited and got a whole slew of friends to join me because they said that I could bring anyone who wanted to pray. I was down for some praying... but I'd be lying if I were to say that I didn't hope to shake hands with Matis.

I arrived just as the service began. I was a little worried that I wouldn't know how to do something in the service and people would give me funny looks... but it turned out to be very laid-back. There was some intense praying going on, but the Rabbi kept a running english monologue for the people who weren't quite sure what the prayers were about.

Matis was standing in the back left of the room with his hat covering his eyes. His lips were moving a mile a minute.

After the service we were invited to the Rabbi's house for dinner in the sukkah (an outdoor eating area where all meals are eaten during the holiday of Sukkot). We all packed it into the Sukkah and food was brought out by the Rabbi's daughters. Matisyahu took a seat near the Rabbi at the head of the table. We started chowin down and socializing which was a lot of fun. Then Matis stood up and asked if anyone wanted to ask him anything. Everyone's hands shot up.

He talked about his connection to Judaism and how he communicates it through his music. He talked about his youth in New York. He talked about what it was like to play at Bonnaroo with Trey. He talked about what it's like to be on TV and be a celebrity. He just talked.. and it was awesome..

After dinner I got up the courage and introduced myself and told him about the show I saw him at a few months earlier. He was very friendly but it seemed like he had said all he wanted to say for the night so I told him that I'm happy that he does what he does.. He thanked me and wished me the best.

The next night the concert sold out and he blew everyone away.

It was pretty damn cool.

UVM Jazz Combos concert

2005-12-05T19:45:00.000-05:00

This past Thursday night, in the Southwick Ballroom, the UVM jazz combos performed. I had the priveledge of seeing and participating in music that night. I play in the "upstairs combo," named for our rehearsal location. We played first that night, and we nailed our tunes. Our set consisted of Recordame, In a Sentimental Mood, and Moose the Mooche - Rhythm-a-ning-Webb City. The third song was our best. In this tune, we played three songs simultaneously and they really locked together. Basically, we played really well, and I think the audience enjoyed it too.
The rest of the night went really well. The three other groups played great and the audience seemed to enjoy the whole night. I especially liked the Swing/Bop combo. They played a great version of a Sun Ra tune I really liked. All in all, it was a great night, and I am excited to try out for the combos agan next semester.
Oh yeah, Blogging was fun, but that's the end. Hopefully you guys enjoyed BurlingtoneZ. Stay Cool! Keep Listening! Peace Out!

-MACATTACK

The Breakfast at Kappa Sigma

2005-12-05T19:34:00.000-05:00

This Wednesday night, the last day of classes, The Breakfast will be playing in the basement of Kappa Sigma - SPOOKY! If you haven't heard of The Breakfast, aka Psychadelic Breakfast, they are a high energy rock band, with one of the most talented guitarists out there. The tickets are $15 and the show starts around 8pm. Don't miss it because it is rare that a frat gets such a talented band.
If you can't make it to Kappa Sigma, check out the breakfast at Nectars on Friday, December 16th. I saw them there last year and they put on a rockin' show. I am going to try to see both. See you there if you make it. Peace!

Keller Williams on Saturday, December 10th

2005-12-05T19:25:00.000-05:00

If you're looking for a show that everyone will enjoy, look no further than Keller Williams at the Higher Ground. Keller is one of today’s most distinctive and impressive guitarists/singer-songwriters. Keller is out on the road supporting his new album "Home." HIs new album is supposed to be good. Unlike his old flashier albums like Laugh and Breathe, where he had other artists play on the cd, Keller plays all the instruments on this album. This just goes to show how talanted he really is. So if you want to be impressed by this "mad scientist," come check out the concert this Saturday. Actually.....sorry. I just found out it is sold out. Too bad for those that don't have tickets. If you do, I'll see you there. Peace out!

Escape From Finals Hell

2005-11-21T18:57:00.000-05:00

If you’re looking for a good show to see before buckling down for the miserable week and a half of finals I strongly recommend you see Rusted Root at Higher Ground on Friday, December 2nd. It’s hard to go to UVM and not know who this band is so I won’t indulge in a long verbal description of their sound. For those of you who never leave your room in Wright (Idea) Hall, they are an upbeat blend of guitar and percussions with some random instruments like flute mixed in. They’ve been around for over ten years and are a tight group of skilled musicians. Rusted Root's song “Send Me On My Way” is very well known and was featured in the movie Ice Age in 2002. Most casual music fans can appreciate the music of Rusted Root and this show would be a great chance to get out and enjoy yourself. I’ve found that trying a new live band is often much more rewarding than a night out on the town, so give it a try.

Anyone going to CT for Thanksgiving break. CT concert schedule for 11/23 - 11/26

2005-11-14T10:50:00.000-05:00

I am from CT and will be returning home for Thanksgiving break. Usually, home can be rather boring It's great to see my fam, my dog, and my bum friends that still live in town, but a couple days is enough.
This break will be five days. I am spending Thanksgiving with relatives in NJ so that leaves four days to chill. So I plan to see my GF, which will be great. But also, I plan to see a concert with my old concert-goer-buddy TWAN. If you are going to be in CT for break, the following information may be useful. Here is a CT concert schedule.

11/23/05 :: Wednesday

Rolla
Acoustic Cafe
Bridgeport, CT

The Smokes
Bristol Grill
Bristol, CT

Electric Mayhem
The Breadbox Band
Mario's Cafe
Derby, CT

Yellow 9
Ernie's Place
East Hampton, CT

Roamer
Somebody's Closet
Brian Dolzani
Al's Place
Fairfield, CT

Pie (CT)
The Main Pub
Manchester, CT

Red River Soul
La Boca Restaurant
Middletown, CT

Ol' Boy
Huntington Street Cafe
Shelton, CT

The Breakfast
Porters Tap Room
Westbrook, CT

:: 11/24/05 :: Thursday

Pete Scheips Band
Sully's Pub
Hartford, CT

The John Hickey Band
Jimmy's Seaside
Stamford, CT

Guy Malone
The Red Door
Watertown, CT

:: 11/25/05 :: Friday

Derek Trucks Band
Premier Music Hall
Danbury, CT

Garry & the Moodswingers
Wharf Restaurant
Madison, CT

Rane
The Main Pub
Manchester, CT

Red River Soul
South City Bar and Grill
Middletown, CT

Straddledaddy
La Boca Mexican Restaurant and Cantina
Middletown, CT

Shakedown
Savvy Fish
Naugatuck, CT

Lounge Act
Grumpy's Pub and Grub
Plainville, CT

Witchunt
Trisha Radil
Blackboard Cafe
Windsor Locks, CT

:: 11/26/05 :: Saturday

Red River Soul
Ray Kelly's
Bridgeport, CT

Dark Star Orchestra
The Juicy Chops
Webster Theatre and Underground
Hartford, CT

Big Fuzz
Sully's Pub
Hartford, CT

11/26/05 :: Saturday

The Akashic Record
The Main Pub
Manchester, CT

Fuzebox
Martini's
Orange, CT

Mark Paradis Band
Sam the Clams
Southington, CT

Djehli
Jimmy's Seaside
Stamford, CT

I'm going to see Dark Star Orchestra at the Webster Theatre in Hartford on 11/26. There are other good shows too, so if you are in CT, check em out.

-MACATTACK

Does anyone plan to see Trey on his new tour? - because I am.

2005-11-14T10:26:00.000-05:00

Have you guys checked the set lists Trey Anastasio is playing on his new tour. Here's a couple reasons why I am definitley going to see him in Albany on Friday. First, he plays a lot of original Trey Anastasio solo works like "push on till the day," and "nights speaks to a woman." These songs are off his first solo disc which I love. Also, Trey is only playing one set. You might be saying, "well that sucks," but get this; Instead of taking a set break, Trey plays acoustic versions of Phish songs. The set lists look sick! Check out the past two shows:

11/11/05 (Fri) Stanley Performing Arts Center - Utica, NY
Set 1: Mr. Completely, Spin, Drifting, Dark And Down, Night Speaks to a Woman, Shine, Money Love and Change, Push On 'til the Day, Come as Melody, Access Me*, The Divided Sky*@, Get Back on the Train*, Heavy Things*, Bathtub Gin* > Ghost*, E: Boogie On Reggae Woman**Comment: *Trey on acoustic, Mike Gordon on electric bass, @Jon Fishman on Cymbal, with "Lawn Boy" ending, **Mike Gordon on bass, Jon Fishman on drums

11/12/05 (Sat) Grey Gymnasium at Bates College - Lewiston, ME
Set 1: 70 Volt Parade* > Spin, Tuesday, Cayman Review, Night Speaks to a Woman, Sweet Dreams Melinda, Push On 'til the Day, Dark and Down, Shine, Come as Melody, Two Versions of Me@, Sleep Again@, Limb by Limb@, Julius@, Pebbles and Marbles@, Wilson@, I am the Walrus > Mr. Completely > Low, E: First Tube, Rocky Mountain Way

AN ACOUSTIC DIVIDED SKY WITH MIKE AND JON. HOLY SHIT! THAT'S ENOUGH FOR ME. I WOULD PAY 40 BUCKS JUST TO SEE THE ACOUSTIC SET OF THE SHOW ON 11/11! AND I HEARD PAGE WAS IN THE BUILDING. THIS JusT KEEPS GETTING BETTER. SO, I AM GOING TO ALBANY, AND IT'S GUNNA BE FUN. THANKS!
-MACATTACK

That's right, I danced my ass off!

2005-11-14T10:18:00.000-05:00

I hope that as many of you as possible saw Soulive this past thursday night at higher ground. This was only the second time I have seen them, but they put on such an entertaining and energetic show. First off, the grooves that the Evan bros. set up are tight and funky - I saw MMW last week and they did not funk like this. I like to groove, and soulive makes it so easy.
Also, Eric Krasno is sick! NOt only does he use excellent jazz inflections in his playing, he has rock n' roll running through his veins. The peaks that the band would hit during his guitar solos were amazing - I was playing air guitar all night. As cliche as it may sound, peaks are the whole reason i love mid-90s Phish (Trey), and Krasno was using these same peak guitar solos. It was rockin'! That in combination with a steady funk, made me dance my ass of all night. Oh yeah, the drinks helped too.

P.S. The "Come Together" encore was one to remember. Who was that guy with the funky hair? I never caught his name. Waits? Peace Out!

Great Big Sea - Coming to Higher Ground

2005-11-11T13:59:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to give everyone the heads up: Great Big Sea is coming back to Burlington. I’m sure most of you out there are responding: “Who the hell is that?” Well the answer is that they’re a great band from the St. John's, Newfoundland area. Their sound is hard to explain and I think is put well on the Higher Ground website:

“….(Great Big Sea) fuses Newfoundland traditional music with modern pop in a crowd-pleasing formula both heartfelt and vital. A pure force of nature — much like the ocean surge they take their name from — Great Big Sea's blend of instruments like mandolin, bodhran, fiddle, and concertina, along with their vocal harmonies, revels in the melodies they create and the Newfoundland tunes they love. Their sound bellows joy”

GBS played at late afternoon show at North Beach on the shores of Lake Champlain in the summer of 2003. They opened for Nickel Creek and the show was memorable to say the least. GBS played a great energetic set and the sold-out crowd responded well. The next day there was a picture of my girlfriend and I at the show on the front page of the Burlington Free Press.

This time around, the venue, Higher Ground, won’t be as good and I probably won’t make the paper, but they are sure to put on a great performance. The show is April 20th (that’s right, 4/20) and the tickets go on sale November 18th, $20 in advance and $22 at the door. I’m going to venture a guess that they won’t have any tickets left to sell at the door.

While they’re sound is a little different than the mainstream, their traditional rock tunes are not to be missed. Download some of their songs. I suggest: "Consequence Free", "When I’m Up", "Ordinary Day", and "A Boat Like Gideon Brown" just to name a few. If you’re into the softer stuff try: "Captain Wedderburn" or "Boston and St. John’s". If you want some traditional Canadian tunes dload: "Mari Mac", "The Night Pat Murphy Died", or "General Taylor" my personal favorite and very much in the vein of Stan Rogers one of the best true voices I’ve ever come across.

Check out Great Big Sea, it’s well worth your time.

Springfest 06': Who's it gonna be?

2005-11-07T16:33:00.000-05:00

Talk of this year’s UVM Springfest is upon us. The annual concert was created in part to combat the 420 festival on April 20th which our school became famous for. While historically a day when thousands would pack the green by the library and raise their joints and middle fingers and wave them at the cops, it recently has fallen into obscurity due to a beefed up police presence. One of President Fogel’s top priorities has been to reduce the party image of the school in order to restore the “public ivy” image we once had. The 420 festival was one of the most visible examples of the party atmosphere at UVM and thus something he looked to stomp out as soon as he could. Fogel’s response was to not only increase police presence but to also throw large amounts of cash from his discretionary funds at a Springfest event that would be fun for the students and easily controlled by the administration.

The Springfest of 2004 brought us the The Roots and Blackalicious, two hip-hop bands. While last year the school threw down around $85,000 to bring Cake and Particle. Over the course of the last three years the school has hosted such other large acts as Jurassic Five, Common, George Clinton, String Cheese Incident (Springfest ’03), and the Roots, again. The primary complaint from students has been that most big acts that come have been hip-hop, which may not draw everyone in.

While the administration tries to increase UVM's image as an institution of strong academics they are pushing other areas as well. The jump of the hockey team to Hockey East as well as the recent success of both the basketball and hockey teams has helped the school by leaps and bounds. Coming from LSU, a school very big on sports, Fogel understands the benefits that successful athletic teams can have for a school. A school's overall image is something looked at by agents when deciding if they want to book one of their acts for a show at a certain college. I personally doubt that the bands we’ve had in the past have done a lot to support larger acts coming, primarily because many of the bands that we've had play a lot of college shows. Yet, I imagine the money we’re waving around will get their attention. Rumor has it that we’re spending more than ever before to bring a big act to Burlington.

In a showing of a desire for student input this year the UVM Bored page has put up a survey that allows students to choose their top three choices out of fifteen major acts. The possible choices span many genres and most are very well known bands. I applaud this move but wonder how feasible it would be to get many of the bands. I can only hope that all the bands listed are at least remotely possible. I encourage all of you out in blogland to give your input so that the school can bring in someone we will all like this year.

R

2005-10-20T04:36:00.000-04:00

The Red Hot Chili Peppers

Now, there is those of you out there that hear those words and immediate get going on how RHCP uuuuused to be good but then they totally went downhill after Blood Sugar Sex Magic. I mean Blood Sugar is my favorite album too.. but we need to be a little more objective here. Blood Sugar was a musical milestone and it was only fitting that shortly after its release, John Frusciante found himslef in rehab.. where he would remain... for the better part of the 90's.

Dave Navarro.

And then Californication came out. And it was too poppy for you? Around the World? Get on Top? Purple Stain? Purple Stain!?!?!! This was the beginning of a funk that even George Clinton couldn't put his finger on. Substance Funk. The music took a new shape.. Flea's basslines started to have a voice of their own. I remember the days of Blackeyed Blonde and the like, but this was a new realm of playing. And John was back, ready to not only funk harder than ever.. but he had a few ballots that he wanted to share.. and Chad was holdin it down for Anthony to sing his heart out.

And if you haven't really gotten into By The Way, their most recently album, you should really give it a listen. I mean they have been touring with these songs for almost three years now and each track has developed so much. It is almost painful for me to watch the DVD of the Slane Castle show in Ireland where John wails out solos that belittle his pre-Blood Sugar days.

Perhaps more on this issue later.

H

2005-10-20T03:56:00.000-04:00

Because Burlingtonez is so open-ended in its approach to music and self-expression.. I feel comfortable enough to freewrite a rap right now and post it for the general public.. here goes..

(preliminary series of yo's)
yo -yo yo - yo yo yo- yo
check it out
yo yo
here we go yo
im spitting the ill flow
yall better know to lay low
ill got more game than the sonics
and i drink gin and tonics
and theres a silent p in the word
pneumonics
yeah
i say what ever comes to mind
i dig through my thought and i find
words that rhyme
with the last word in the previous sentence..
fuck.
i tote my mac ten when i need respect
maybe bush should try it and then he could really get elect
-ed my lyrics bounce up to the rafters
when i need new glasses I go to lenscrafters
i only have one more blog to do
and then ill be caught up to you
because tomorrow is the day that it's due
1 + 1 to the power of 1 is 2

WE WANT PRENUP WE WANT PRENUP YEAH!

C

2005-10-20T03:36:00.000-04:00

Yeah I went to a John Mayer concert! Wanna fight about it?

it is true.. last Tuesday I took my girlfriend (the beautiful Kristen Whitney Root) to see John Mayer's new group.. aptly titled the John Mayer Trio perform at the Avalon in Boston. The venue was awesome and the crowd was pumped. And John, along with his newly found bassist and drummer, played the blues like you wouldn't believe. I'm not sure if the days of "Your Body is a Wonderland" are over forever, but this tour payed homage to the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughn more than anything else. And John can tear it up like you wouldn't believe. He must have rocked like 10 different guitars throughout the night, blessing each one with a few minutes of down-home blues riffs and wailing solos.

They have a bunch of originals that they recently wrote and have been working out on the road... but they filled the gaps between their tunes with covers such as "I Don't Need No Doctor" and "Golddigger." (Kanye didn't show)

So the set ends and we're all shouting ENCORE... and I was yelling JOHNCORE which I thought was full of comedic gold at the time. But to our dismay, it wasn't Mr. Mayer that appeared on stage, but none other than Steven Tyler. He strolled out and played some harmonica and then was joined by the Trio who rocked out together for a while. Tyler took his leave and John and the boys finished with "Daughters" and "Try" (a new one).

All in all.. it was a great show and I'm stickin to it.

P

2005-10-20T02:37:00.000-04:00

And thus begins a long string of frantic posts...

I originally started writing about the Red Hot Chili Peppers.. but apparently I didn't realize how touchy I can get over the issue of their body of work and the various opinions of public. So I'll save that heated post for another time when I can sit down and really wax philosophical about my main man.. John Frusciante.

But now I will procede to talk about something else... such as... some bands that I have been listening to that really kick ass. You see.. because the concept of a blog is completely self-serving, I feel justified in presenting you with these opinions.. but I am not, by nature, a band dropper.. and I do in fact find band dropping for the sake of bolstering one's own satisfaction to be the objectification of irony in every music oriented sub-culture. And I have been reading Marx, Weber, and Du Bois for the past 5 hours for Soc 109 so I will continue to talk like this until it cease to exist.. yet what is existance if not our own justification of some concept of the self that we wish to impose upon others?

Alright.

Four Tet
song to download: Hilarious Movies of the Nineties

Explosions in the Sky
song to download: First Breath After Coma

Kid Koala
download: Emperor's Main Course

Seacrest, Out.

Higherground Schedule

2005-10-19T20:39:00.000-04:00

I thought I would give you guys a heads up about the sick bands that are coming to Higherground the next couple months. The past few weeks have been amazing, and there is more fun to come. Party Hardy!

October 19th and 20th - STS9
October 21st - The Slip
October 28th - Steve Kimmock
November 2nd - MMW
November 8th - Galactic
November 10th - Soulive
November 12th - Addision Groove Project
December 2nd - Rusted Root
December 29th, 30th, and 31st - Dark Star Orchestra

Hope to see you guys there.
-MACATTACK

Wah pedal info

2005-10-19T20:22:00.000-04:00

Are there any guitarists out there? I have some valid information for y'all.
We all know how fun a wah pedal can be when played with an electric guitar. Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Trey Anastasio, and many other superstars used them frequently. A wah pedal makes a great addition to your guitar setup, if you have the right one.
If you are going to buy a wah pedal I recommened the Dunlop Crybaby 535Q multi-wah pedal. This wah pedal is a classic used by the greats. It has a solid body so you can stomp on it with confidence and has a great sound. The best part about it is that it has a equalizer on the side that allows you to adjust the amount of "wah" sound you want. You can have a subtle or sharp sound by adjusting the knob; it's very convenient and allows you to personalize your wah sound.
On the other hand, there is also a wah pedal that I recommend not buying, the Rogue WP-101. This pedal is a piece of shit. I bought it because it was so much cheaper than the other ones on the market. When I first got it, it sounded great. But after only a couple months it started crackling so badly that it was unusable. I know we all want to buy discounted stuff, but when it comes to wah pedals, drop the extra money for the insurance that you will get a long lasting product. It is worth the extra cash in the long run. Happy shoppin' and jammin'!

Watch out for Ebay and the lazy guy at Burlington Guitar and Amp

2005-10-19T19:48:00.000-04:00

I am an active musician and I'm always looking for places to by gear at discounted prices. So this summer, I searched the internet for the gear I needed which included drum set acessories, cymbals, and most importantly a new mandolin. This is when I discovered Ebay.
The worst thing about ebay is that you think that you are going to get something for a great price because the starting bid for the item is so low. But somehow, by the end of the bidding it seems as though you might as well just by the item at a real store because the price is so high. At least this is how it works with musical instruments.
After bidding on items for a couple weeks I finally won a new mandolin for a great price. Everything seemed great! But when I recieved the mandolin it had several problems; the bridge was not set correctly and the nut was broken. This caused the mandolin to go out of tune very easily. Though this was annoying, I was psyched that I had a new electric madolin, so I played it all the time despite the issues. You see, I own an acoustic mandolin as well, but you can't imagine how many more subtlties you can bring out of an amped mandolin. I felt as though I could instantly play faster and better. It was great!
Anyway, when I got back to school the problems with the mandolin seemed to get worse. I decided to take the mando down to Burlington Guitar and Amp on main street. To make a long story short, I left my mandolin with Randy at the store. Supposedly he is the best in town. The problem is, I left the madonlin there on September 10th and it is now October 19th. I have left several messages on Randy's answer machine but I get no return calls. I am really pissed off at the service. I don't know if he takes this long all the time, but it isn't professional, especially because he does return my phone calls.
In conclusion I have two pieces of advice. Don't by musical instruments off a ebay and always ask Randy how long it is going to take to fix an instruument. I'm sorry about all this complaining but I had to get it off my chest.

The Big Wu was not so Big

2005-10-19T18:59:00.000-04:00

This past year I really got into the Big Wu. Last year, I picked up this live cd of theirs from 1998 and have been avidly listening to them ever since. I really like their style because they fuse straight ahead rock n' roll with folky roots. Also, I often find myself hearing Jerry Garcia in the playing of Chris Catsino, the lead guitarist for the Big Wu. I believe that the Grateful Dead is a huge influence of this band, which is great in my eyes. Let's just say if you were to ask me what was in my cd player, I would probably answer, "If it's not the Grateful Dead, then it's something that sounds like it!" This probably contributes to my fondness of The Big Wu.
On October 4th the Big Wu came to Nectar's. It was a 21+ show but I went down the the bar earlier that day to get my name on the 18+ list. At Nectar's, they often let you in to see music if you get on an under 21 list and go in before a certain time (usually 11 o'clock.) Anyway, I went in by myself because it was a Tuesday night and all my friends had work to do or just were not interested in going.
When I entered the bar there was an opening band name DR. Uhall on the stage. They were playing medicore rock n' roll that did not impress me at all. All I wanted to hear was WU. I sat through an hour and a half of that shit until the Big Wu finally came on. I walked to the front and waited intently.
I thought that the crowd was really small for a really good band, but The Big Wu is from Minnesota and their fan base probably does not travel very far.
The Big Wu just released a new cd "Tools for the Evening," so I was expecting to hear a lot of new stuff, and I did. The show began with two songs I had never heard. I was struggling to get into it.
The rest of the show was the same way. The crowd wasn't into it and the music was not as good as I expected. I guess I never really listened to the Big Wu from the 2000s. I was a little disappointed with the experience. Half way through the first set, all I wanted to do was get a beer at the bar and see how many older women I could hit on, but that wasn't happening. The bouncers had vigorously marked my hands with permanent marker. So I grabbed a water and peaced.

"I'll have two eggs over easy with bacon and a side of homefries."

2005-10-19T18:22:00.000-04:00

Springfest 2005.....OOOOOO YEAH! Last year we got the Slip. That show was OK. It would of been better if I hadn't blown a perfect oppurtunity to talk to Mike Gordon my first week in Burlington. Instead of saying hello I just kept trying to get a good look at him, without being obvious, as he stood next to me. Eventually my tactics drove him, and his really young girlfriend, away. I should of just offered him a shot of Rumpleminze.....and then asked him to "jam" back at my dorm room. Yeah...that would have been cool.
Anyway, this year we got The Breakfast (aka Psychedelic Breakfast.) I was "psyched." The Breakfast is originally from New Haven, CT, which is about half an hour from my hometown. I have been listening to them these past few years and had the oppurtunity to see them several times in CT. The quartet is a funky rock n' roll band that is "guitar-shredding" influenced. They always bring energy, excitement, and excellent musicianship to a live performance.
The night of September 16th, 2005, my roomate and I started the evening on Handy Court with some vodka tonics. After we got a little tuned up, we filled our empty tonic water bottle with the rest of our vodka and made the walk up to campus to see what was going on with the show.
When we arrived we were both surprised to see the band playing it up, and concert area not crowded at all. This was strange but cool, because we could get really close to the stage with no problems.
We quickly entered the show and got as close as we could. The band was right on, as always. Everyone in the crowd was getting down really hard. It was a great time. If you weren't there, you really missed out. Here's the setlist for that night for thise of you that were there.

September 16th, 2005 - University Of Vermont; Burlington, VT
I: Doughboy, Inner Glimpse, Sundance, Beef Barley > Tom Sawyer, LDZ > Beef Barley, Fairy, Buquebus*,Hard Luck Harry** > Taboo Or Not Taboot, In The Flesh
E: The Chase
* with 'Fantastic Voyage' (Coolio) teases.** with 'Crosseyed And Painless' (Talking Heads) teases.

If you are into funky rock n' roll and want to be impressed by a guiarist, check out The Breakfast. This is MACATTACK signing off.

2005-10-19T18:21:00.000-04:00

"Let's make a New Deal"

2005-10-19T17:34:00.000-04:00

Back on September 8th, 1985, chaos was unleashed. Rivers flooded, mountains crumbled, lightning struck (your house), children were driving go-carts to 7-11, vegans ate at Mcdonalds with Sloppy Joe and his albino midget friend, and Raffi forgot the first line to "Baby Baluga" while performing at the "Shave a Whale" foundations annual festival.
OK, so I made that last part up, but that's irrelevent. What really happened is I was born. Yeah that's right, I am a Virgo and will go out with any female that reads blogs just because I want to meet "that kind of person."
Let's fast forward 20 years, to a little place called Burlington. School was still in the first or second week for us UVMers and the party was still kickin'. The word on the street was that "The New Deal" was playing at the Higher Ground. Imagine this....I'm celebrating my farewell to teenage years and I'm graced with the oppurtunity to party all night at a dance beat revolution. Sweet!
No, let's get down to serious, or Miss Hair is going to turn into a Bear and we know what that means. Here's a little info for all you BurlingtoneZ enthusiasts. The New Deal is a trio out Canada. They play dance/techno influenced music that will knock your socks off. HaHaHa. And I know what you may be thinking, but the New Deal does not enjoy shooting the shit about FDR and his politcal tactics or ideas. They're Canadian for cryin' out loud! Anyway, this band brings a originality and energy that can only be explained when you see them. And the keyboard player looks like Richard, the original survivor. Well.....it looks like Richard on mescaline. So if you wanna dance, get to a New Deal.
Originally I was planning on giving a review of the show at Higherground on September 8th, 2005, but now I realize how fuzzy the memories of the show really are. God Damn the Whiskey Man! I do remember the encore was "Gone, Gone, Gone," which is my personal favorite song. It was a sick way to end a night of jumping like around like a lunatic to the heartbeat of a strong bass drum.
If you are a rookie New Deal listener, check out their newer cd, "Gone, Gone, Gone," and see what you think. It will have you hoppin'.
MACATTACk out!

Good times at Higher Ground

2005-10-19T12:36:00.000-04:00

I’d never been to a concert completely blind before, meaning that I had never heard the band. Yet, I decided to see John Brown's Body in mid-September, based on the convincing of a good friend, despite never having heard them play a note.

The band was huge, an eight piece ensemble of drums, guitars, and horns. The look they carried reminded me a lot of the ska bands I used to follow when I was younger. An obvious jump considering that ska grew out of reggae. For those who don’t know, ska in it’s most simplistic form is a faster paced reggae. JBB’s three horn players (trombone, tenor sax, and trumpet) were all dressed in suits, a common look for horn players in the reggae/ska world.

The band came with incredible energy. All eight members were very into the music they played and the crowd fed off it. The music was very upbeat and danceable, as one would expect from a reggae band. The horns added a lot to the fullness of the music. Hearing horns in person is much more powerful than hearing them on a CD. The difference between live and album make John Brown’s Body a very experience based band. I found that I got much more from seeing them in concert than I would listening to one of their studio albums.

I attended this concert soon after seeing Coldplay, on which I wrote my first post. I got to thinking after seeing JBB that it is important for bands to entertain even in the absence of a clear message. People want to have a good time at a concert, and that’s what a band like JBB provides. It’s a choice made by the band which shouldn’t be scrutinized by the public. This is not to say that JBB lyrics don’t have a message its just that the focus of the music is on just that, the music.

Final Thoughts on PJ

2005-10-18T17:59:00.000-04:00

Well I haven’t been to a show in a few weeks so I see no reason to not indulge myself by analyzing the last two shows I saw a little further. Bear with me, it’s interesting. I think.

Reaffirmation is a great thing, something that we rarely get in the world of music. A musician will more often let us down than confirm the good things we come up with in our heads about them.

About halfway through the Pearl Jam show in Montreal I glanced over at my buddy who’d been rocking out since the show began. He looked dejected and had his arms crossed. He refused to tell me what was up.

“I’ll tell you later dude, don’t worry about it.”

I finally got it out of him. He had seen Eddie point at some girls in the third or fourth row. He made the gesture to let a security guard know to bring them up to the side of the stage. The security guard had grabbed one woman he thought Ed was pointing at but Eddie corrected him:

“No, no, them.”

The girls, three of them, came up and were dancing on the side of the stage.

“Poison used to use their music to get chicks,” my buddy vented, “I can’t believe they’re doing that shit.”

I was disappointed too. Minutes later we realized how off we were. The girls were from the band Sleater-Kinney, the opener, and they were coming up on stage to sing a song with the band. They all sang Neil Young’s Harvest Moon, a song the band had learned for a friends wedding.

Pearl Jam and friends

2005-09-29T18:21:00.000-04:00

The trip to Toronto from Burlington is long. Once you’re there you realize just how far you’ve driven in a day. To put it into perspective, people coming from Detroit have a similar, if not shorter, drive. Thankfully, Pearl Jam made it worth it.

Eddie Vedder often comes out prior to the opening band and plays a song on his own with an acoustic guitar. He chose Porch for his pre-set at the Toronto show to the delight of many in the crowd, including myself. Porch is a heavy rock song off of Ten, their first album. Hearing it acoustically was amazing because as a listener I could hear a lot of the intricacies that are lost when it is played on an electric guitar with distortion. Towards the end of the song there is an instrumental section, during which I was amazed that Eddie didn’t break a string with how hard he was hammering on the steel strands.

They opened the main set with Release, same as in Montreal. They then went into Go and Animal, two powerful songs that they often play back to back. The rest of the main setlist was fairly standard with songs such as Evenflow, Daughter, Betterman, and Black being the most well known to a mainstream audience.

PJ opened the first encore with an acoustic rendition of You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away by the Beatles, which was good until Eddie messed up the lyrics and had to stop and restart. The encore included two of what I consider to be the bands best slow songs, because of their rich melodies and inspired lyrics. These two songs, played two songs apart in Toronto, are Present Tense and Indifference. Present Tense begins with only Eddie and Mike (guitar), and the build-up they create together is amazing….

You can spend your time alone
Redigesting past regrets,
Or you can, come to terms and realize
You're the only one who cannot forgive yourself,
Makes much more sense to live in the present tense

By the end, the song has reached a frenzied pace, and the rest of the band has joined in. Indifference is even slower and the lyrics alone scream out in desperation…

I will hold the candle till it burns up my arm
I’ll keep takin’ punches until their will grows tired
I will stare the sun down until my eyes go blind,
I won’t change direction, and I won’t change my mind
How much difference does it make

In a now famous show at Madison Square Garden in NYC in 2003, Ben Harper came out and sang Indifference alone, with the band backing him up. In the same show he tagged the end of Betterman with his own song, My Own Two Hands. It was in this concert that he proclaimed: “this is the greatest band in the world,” in reference to Pearl Jam.

The second encore included one of the strongest live performances of Jeremy I’ve heard. They followed it up with Leaving Here, a great song by the Who about the importance of treating women well.

U2 had been in town for four shows the week prior to Pearl Jam’s Monday night show. Ed made a guest appearance during U2’s Saturday night show and sang the words for Old Man River. This led to people wondering if U2 would return the favor. The answer came when the house lights came on at the start of Rockin’ in the Free World. A man in a jean jacket, shades, and a cowboy hat snuck out from behind a stack of amps while banging on a tambourine. The man was Bono. I must give him credit for the fast paced improvisational lyrics he reeled off. Not only were they good but they were obviously very spur of the moment. After the song he exited the stage on the left, the side where I was sitting. My eyes followed his exodus and I noticed that he took a seat next to a couple familiar faces sitting on the side of the stage, The Edge and Lawrence Mullin, both of U2.

Apparently all three of them had been sitting on the side of the stage the whole show. My friend who gave me a ride to Toronto had scored a front row ticket and said he had seen the band perched on the side of the stage from the beginning. He said that as Eddie belted out Elderly Woman, so did Bono. He also mentioned that it took some serious prodding from Eddie’s wife to get Bono out there. Eddie’s wife, my friend later told me, was dancing on the side of the stage most of the show, holding their very young daughter Olivia, who was outfitted with massive noise blocking headphones to protect his developing ears. Just as the band has done so many times they ended with Yellow Ledbetter. The show let out around 11:00 and we started the trek back to Burlington, arriving home around 8:00AM.

Catch MACATTACK"S VARIETY PACK on 90.1 WRUV FM Burlington

2005-09-27T10:12:00.000-04:00

How do you wake up in the morning? Coffee, breakfast, a cold shower? All these things are cool, but if you really wanna get your heart rate going and open those eyes, turn no further than 90.1 WRUV FM Burlington, UVM's radio broadcast. WRUV brings a mix of new music that engages all sorts of people and musical interests. Not to mention, you get to listen to your fellow school mates spin sick beats and create a wonderful vibe all through Burlington. Or you could just laugh at how high your friends voice sounds on-air. Either way, I can't think of a better way to wake up.
So you're probably saying "OK MACATTACK, when should I listen to 90.1 to catch the best stuff?" That's easy. Look no further than MACATTACK's Variety Pack from 6-9am on Tuesday mornings. I host a variety show that tries to get all sorts of people up in the morning with a bang. I play a variety of rock, folk, hip-hop, funk, jazz, groove, dance, and any other genre I can get my hands on. Lately, my shows have been highly folk/bluegrass influenced, but you can always count on catching a little of everything. So get you ass up in the morning on Tuesday and check out my show. You can always listen to WRUV any time from your computer. Just go to www.uvm.edu/wruv and look for who is "playing now." Then chose "listen." It's that easy. So I hope you join me next week from 6-9am on Tuesday. I promise you, you won't be disapointed. Thanks a lot, and keep listening.
Oh yeah.....Quick Promo.... Nicklecreek is playing at Higher Ground this weekend. They are a new-age bluegrass band with a sick mandolin player and a very pleasant female vocalist/fiddle player. If you want to "HOE-DOWN" come and check it out. Ticket prices are probably around $20. Thanks, and take it easy. Until next time.

MACATTACK

Blá Náttfötin Klæða Mig Í (that's "I put on my blue nighties" in Icelandic)

2005-09-20T00:02:00.000-04:00

So. Friday night (September 16th) I crossed the border to the glorious land of poutine, eurotrash, and no drinking age - French Canadia. Montréal, to be exact. The purpose of my trip, as told to the border patrol, was to see a band called Sigur Rós (I guess I look like a drug mule, because they wasted an hour of my time searching the car I was in). Sigur Rós (translation: "Victory Rose"; pronunciation: "SEE-goor roce") hail from Iceland and have been perfecting their brand of ethereal, dreamy, experimental rock since 1994. However, they really took off with their 1999 release Ágætis Byrjun ("Good Start") which actually went platinum in their homeland and abroad. In 2002, they issued ( ), eight untitled tracks. As if they couldn't possibly get any more extra-terrestrial, lead singer Jón Þór (Jónsi) Birgisson composed this album entirely in his own invented language, "Hopelandic" - nonsensical, whimsical, and full of elves and faeries. They very recently (and by very recently, I mean on September 12th) released a new composition, Takk, which I consider more heavily orchestrated than their previous albums, and as mesmerizing as ever. Stay with me here. Who's seen The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou? You know at the end where everybody in the submarine finds that big ass shark Bill Murray was yapping about the whole movie and they all just kind of stare at it with their jaws hanging open? That's Sigur Rós plying in the background. To me, their music is suited to perfection in this scene; it's a sense of awe, discovery, and reverence.

But back to business. The show was at Théâtre Maisonneuve, in Place des Arts - usually home to operas and ballets. Let's not forget its artsy glass wall panels, over-priced bar, tuxedoed staff, fresh cut flowers in the bathroom, and red velvet EVERYWHERE. As I settled into my third row center orchestra seat (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), it actually made me contemplate not being a dirtbag for the rest of my life. But that involves showering and forgoing my inevitable future as a disgruntled record store clerk (ref: John Cusack, High Fidelity), so I tossed back some gin and told my brain to shut the hell up.

ANYWAY, as the lights dimmed, opener Amína took the stage. Also from Iceland, this group is a collective of four adorable Scandinavian females. They are actually Sigur Rós' string section, but separately perform instrumental electro-pop. They play an incredible assortment of instruments, including the harpsichord, mandolin, glass-o-phone (four wine glasses secured to a board, filled with water to a certain pitch, wet fingertips circle the top, producing a half-squeak, half-hum...I'll be honest, I have NO idea how that works), and lastly, my favorite, a metal saw (played with a bow/hit with a mallet). Their set was short but concise. The audience was ready...

Sigur Rós hit the theater from behind a white screen, with colored lights projecting out hazy shadows and silhouettes. Their first tune was an arousing buildup, and when the shroud was lifted, my body immediately trembled. Lead singer Birgisson coos with a high-pitched, angelic poignancy - seeing his melodies escape from literally a few feet in front of me was probably the closest thing I'll ever have to meeting Jesus. There stood four men who create music that's beyond description, from another galaxy, whose language can't even be understood by the majority of their audience, but who still manage to capture the souls of legions of fans. Each song they played kept elevating intensity and had the entire crowd hanging by a string of emotions. I never wanted it to end. By the time they bowed and took an encore, I sat and stared in disbelief (I actually think my body was temporarily paralyzed). Sad because it was over? Yes. But that will always be infinitely outweighed by the hypnotizing genius of Sigur Rós. I was lucky enough to fall in love, dance with elves, have my heart broken, and sleep in an igloo on the tundra of Iceland, all in one extraordinary evening. And I will never be the same.

P.S. Apologies for being absolutely and unforgivably cheesy.
P.P.S. Maybe next time I won't forget my camera, and subsequently won't have to punish myself by closing my fingers in the car window.
P.P.P.S. For the love of god, please listen to Sigur Rós.

CaLiLicous Tour comes to Brewtown

2005-09-19T21:31:00.000-04:00

What is the CaLiLicous Tour you may ask?

The answer: I still have no clue.

Apparently Particle decided to call this their CaLiLicous tour... yet it was not in California... and it was not delicious. Not to say that the music wasn't good, I just wouldn't call it delicious. To tell the truth, I'm not sure they really capitalize the L's in CaLiLicous, but I will continue to do it regardless. Now for the longwinded prose about the concert. Wellll... I attended the concert with a few of my buddies.. Will.. Ben.. Max.. and of course Captain Morgan. We strolled in fashionably late, but it was just as Particle was taking the stage. As always, I started by checking out the equipment. The set up was rather standard. The only thing that really stood out were the guitars. There was a Fender Telecaster with one of the coolest wood-grain finishes that I have ever seen. He also had a PRS with a matted quilt looking thing going on. And he definetely put them to good use. The first set lasted for almost an hour and a half in which they played of a number of their own tunes and a few covers. They even played "Suck my Kiss" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. When I heard the bassist slam out that F-G progression, I was like a fat kid in a peanut butter castle. (hwuat?) Well anyway I was rather close to the stage, and of course I took it upon myself to over-emphasis the fact that I know all the words and the timing even though its an instrumental cover. The bassist saw me rockin and gave me the this-kid-knows-the-words-to-the-cover-we-are-currently-playing-and-I-think-that-he-is-totally-the-coolest-motha-in-this-place stare. Immediately following the concert I ordered an exorbanant amount of pizza and played guitar in my underpants. It was a great night. But now I feel responsible to informing my vast audience of readers more about the music of Partlce, and further contributing to this musical scrapbook that we are starting. Well, they are an electronica band for one. They have alot of textured rythyms mixed with that WHAAAAAAAAAAHWWW noise. Get it? They are based in improvisation but don't stray too far from the basic riffs that comprise their only non-live CD "Launchpad," which has earned them quite the fan base. And the keyboard player looks like Jesus. I'll stop there.. until next time.. My spoon is too big!

"This is the greatest band in the world" - Ben Harper on Pearl Jam

2005-09-17T16:36:00.000-04:00

Pearl Jam – September 15, 2005 Bell Center in Montreal

The Bell Center is one of the biggest venues on Pearl Jam’s Canadian tour and once announced it sold out very quickly. The band opened with Release, a pretty standard opener, which was hard to hear over the roar of the crowd. They pumped up the energy level with the next two, Corduroy and Last Exit, and soon got to the first cover of the night. A good friend and major inspiration to the band, Johnny Ramone, died a year ago to the day of the show, September 15. Eddie Vedder dedicated the show to his memory and they played a Ramones song, I Believe in Miracles. The band later played Betterman and tagged it with I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend, another Ramones song. They finished out the main set with three rocking songs, playing Do The Evolution, Lukin, and Porch in succession.

The first encore had four covers in it: Trouble by Paul Simon, Last Kiss by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers, Harvest Moon by Neil Young, and Crazy Mary by Victoria Williams. Surprising to me, Eddie remembered all the lyrics to Last Kiss. I’ve seen them perform it twice before and both times he fucked it up. The opening band, Sleater-Kinney, came on stage and helped Eddie sing Harvest Moon, which didn’t add much considering they were very hard to hear. Crazy Mary was the best I’ve ever heard it. A man named Boom Gasper, a keyboard player often tours with the band and is currently performing with them on the Canadian tour. Boom gets his big moment on a solo in Crazy Mary. Mike McCready, one of the two guitar players, solos after Boom on the song. This time around, once he finished his solo, Mike went up next to Boom and they went back and forth playing brief solos extending the song for a long time. Also in the first encore was Man of the Hour, a slow song they wrote for the movie “Big Fish.” The set ended with a bang when the band played Alive.

The second encore started out high energy, and segued well into the major ballads they commonly end shows with. The started out with Whipping, a driving song off Vitalogy. They followed it up with Down which is a song they wrote about Howard Zinn and his book A People's History of the United States. Blood followed Down, and was followed by Black, much to the joy of the crowd. Pearl Jam has a handful of songs that they play back to back to end a show, most often ending with Yellow Ledbetter. In Montreal they played Baba O’Reilly by The Who (you may know it as Teenage Wasteland) and finished with Yellow Ledbetter. Mike McCready plays lead in Ledbetter on a ’59 Fender Strat and in my mind it is best written song. It is a rock ballad dominated by the lead guitar, and has the feel of one of McCready’s idols, Jimi Hendrix. In the liner notes of Lost Dogs, an album of previously unreleased songs, Mike is quoted saying that he doesn’t know what the lyrics are to Ledbetter, but he doesn’t care. He rocked the song in Montreal, as he always does.

.....finally a half decent opener

2005-09-13T21:53:00.000-04:00

It was a busy weekend at Higher Ground. On Saturday night the opener, Manifest Nexto Me took the stage around nine o’clock to a half full venue. The band plays an interesting fusion of styles that’s impossible to put a label on. Watching them it’s hard to not bob your head to the music, but listening to them at home you may be in danger of nodding off to a song that was hot in concert because of the slow tempo in some of their songs. Based on this one show compared to listening to studio tunes, they seem to be an experience sort of band, and thus best to see live. Many of the songs are slow and beat driven, with an electric tone and a decent amount of reverb (echo). I’m always amazed at the vast array of sounds, and overall music, that keyboard players are able to make. The keyboard is able to easily make up for the lack of guitar in the music. I was impressed with the overall quality of the music which consisted of bass, keys, and drums. The vocals are very much hip-hop without the edge that is associated with mainstream hip-hop today. The lead guy’s rhyming sounded a little forced, while the keyboard player had a great monotone flow going during the songs that he laid vocals on. Check these locals out sometime if they sound like something you’re into.

At least The New Deal rocked

2005-09-13T09:24:00.000-04:00

So I hope that our readers don't think that we are here only to give praise to every band that makes its' way through B-town.. this is not the case.

When I saw The New Deal on thursday night, I didn't realize that they would be co-headlining with Brotherspast. The show consisted of two sets from each band. First Brotherspast played their first set.. and I thought it was just terrible. I'm usually not one to just slander music like this, but I couldn't even be in the room to watch it. When I first arrived at the venue, I had gone up to the stage and looked around at the equipment that Brotherspast uses so I could get a feel for what was in store. The keyboard player had one of the coolest set ups I have ever seen, including multiple expensive digitial keyboards hooked up to some of the coolest looking effects equipment around. The guitarist even had a whole little MIDI station with the Oxygen keyboard hooked up to his laptop. By that point, I was really excited to see what kind of sound this band had. But once they took the stage and started playing, it almost seemed like they didn't even know how to use the equipment they brought. Every song would start out with a few inaudible lyrics and then they just dragged it as far as they could. The keyboard player didn't even touch two of his keyboard, and when he did play any riff that stood out, it was only because of its striking resemblance to "chopsticks." Surprisingly, the crowd seemed to be responding as if they were hearing a work of genious. Not surprisingly, the crowd was mostly there because they caught Brotherspast for like 30 minutes at Bonnaroo and remember thinking it was "totally sick."
On a happier note, The New Deal delivered (as always) two kick-ass sets. I have never seen them play with as much energy. If I had to give any personal constructive criticism, it would be they might be sacraficing some of their funkiness when they try to play with such vigor. But It does get you to dance like hell.
This week: Particle 9/15 Higher Ground

Local Happenings

2005-09-12T14:29:00.000-04:00

If you have the Monday doldrums, may I suggest going to see Of Montreal tonight at Higher Ground? Their music is a fun blend of synths, sputtering bass lines, and guitars that will cut you. Like lasers. I unfortunately missed them when they came to Burlington last spring, but I heard nothing but rave reviews about a show that includes seizure-inducing lights and dancers in fuzzy animal suits. In fact, the flyer circulating states "That's the thing about Of Montreal live: they're gonna make you have fun, kid, whether you want to or not."

Check 'em at ofmontreal.net and stream some tracks from their latest album, The Sunlantic Twins, at polyvinylrecords.com/twins.

Love and poptarts to all.

It ain't VT, but it is CT

2005-09-07T18:15:00.000-04:00

I wanted to drop a line for a band in the small time. They're called Thrown Undertow and they're outta Storrs, CT (UConn). I got the chance to see these guys last year and they put on a great show. They played a bunch of their own stuff and threw in some extremely well chosen covers, as well as some cool tags. Judging by the setlists on the website I can tell they consistently play great shit of other peoples along with their own during shows. Also, on the site, they've got a lot of songs you can listen to off the web. I recommend W, it's a catchy song and if you let it run to the end Scotty (lead guitar) drops a nasty solo after a great build-up. It's well worth checking out. Majesty is a more mellow tune with an Incubus inspired chorus. They've got a few shows coming up in CT, so if you're down that way I'd try to find them. If not hopefully they'll come up this way soon. I'll keep you posted.

Yeayeayea das wuz up

2005-09-06T20:11:00.000-04:00

I have to say (for being possibly the whitest girl in existence) that comrade MattyP was right on when he said Kanye West's new album Late Registration is "hooooooooooot." Blazin'. Kanye co-produced with the excellent Jon Brion, who's collaborated in the past with artists like Aimee Mann and Fiona Apple. An unlikely combination, but one that works smashingly nonetheless. He helps West avoid the same cheesy beat loops that plague many hip-hip releases, something that really turns me off. The lyrics are as sharp and convincing as ever - everyone knows Kanye is an egotistical asshole, but who cares? He makes us eat dat shit up. We also see a whole smorgasbord of guest artists - including Jamie Foxx, The Game, Common...oh, and that total cutie from Maroon 5 with the whiney voice. So even if rap ain't your thaaaaaaang, give Late Registration a listen. I'm sure you'll be bustin' caps in whitey faster than you can say "George Bush doesn't care about black people."

Coldplay: The Concert: The Concept

2005-09-05T23:30:00.000-04:00

What’s up internet readers. I’m looking forward to bringing you my own rants about music, sure to occasionally be overly harsh or disgustingly glorified. Naturally, in my first entry on a blog about music in Burlington, I’m going to write about my weekend trip to… Jersey. A state so vilified at our fine institution, the University of Vermont, that the Student Government Association sold shirts last year that simply read “Don’t Jersey Vermont,” and did quite well doing so.

Coldplay is far from my favorite band in the world, but with their current popularity it’s impossible for a music fan and occasional radio listener to have not heard a decent amount of their stuff. When the opportunity to spend Labor Day weekend at the Jersey Shore with my roommate drinking, hitting the beach, and seeing Coldplay with his older sisters and some friends fell into my lap, I couldn’t pass it up.

The concert was Saturday night, September 3rd, at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel. The venue is an outdoor amphitheater with covered seats and an uncovered lawn section behind and above it, banked towards the stage. Parking is just outside and the lot was a mixed crowd. There were families, groups of teens getting dropped off in their parents minivans, and the twenty and thirty-something’s, tailgating and making up the largest group of fans.

We took up some seats in the lawn after a long stint in the parking lot taking down some suds and pizza. After a weak opener, Coldplay took the stage to a loud ovation and rocked out…. well…. to the extent that they can do such a thing. They played the big ones: Yellow, The Scientist, Speed of Sound, and Clocks. They changed a lyric in Politik to allude to helping New Orleans which was cool. Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash was completely unexpected and well done. The fact that they played a cover at all came as a huge surprise to me, and I commend them for doing it. As can be expected from such a big mainstream band, they were tight as hell and thus sounded very much like they do in studio. A concert style which I am usually not a fan of, yet, with the intricacies of their songs, I liked how tight they were musically. The energy of the concert was surprisingly high despite the primarily calming music they play.

The lights were mesmerizing mixed with the harmonies of the music. We saw most of the show via the multiple big screens fixed on the outside of the seating section. The mix of strobes and spotlights coming from different directions danced across Chris Martin, the lead singer, all night. Watching the screens was like seeing a music video, an effect more a product of the millions of lights than the camera work.

I was struck by a video montage Coldplay showed, prior to their set, of the Third World, overlaid by words attacking fair trade agreements as not truly being fair trade. This is a position I agree with and I liked the fact that they dimmed the lights to get everyone’s attention, and then broadcast such a message before taking the stage. After seeing his, I realized that they don’t attempt to pass on any message through their music directly and I hadn’t known that they stood for much of anything. I don’t pretend to be a student of Colplay’s lyrics, but what I know of is mostly about relationships and emotions, and is muddled in abstraction. This suspicion was confirmed by Chris Martin himself in a recent article in Rolling Stone that I happened to catch the day following the concert. He said: “I’m not a lyricist,” he goes on to point out that lyrics written by someone such as Bob Dylan should be read, but his own shouldn’t, because he just writes about what he feels.

I pointed this out to my roommate, and he mentioned that not everyone wants to hear politically driven lyrics, which is absolutely true. Music is incredibly powerful as a medium for the passage of a message, but there are a few ways to use music to such an end. A band can promote certain causes off-stage or they can sing about those things and talk about them on-stage. Many do both. Many do one or the other. It’s impossible to argue which is the best approach. Be it influencing people on stage or off, a band is using the fact that thousands, or even millions of people pay attention to them, in order to get a point across. Many people in the mainstream of Americana can be turned off to politically driven lyricism and a band may gain a broader number of listeners by not incorporating world issues into their lyrics. An obvious exception is Green Day who are more popular than ever based on songs such as “American Idiot,” which I interestingly happened to catch as the background music as CBS faded to commercial during coverage of the PGA Tour Championship (golf) this year. Yet, Green Day is an exception. Many of the punk bands I loved in my youth spoke nothing but politics and are completely ignored by the mainstream. That’s not to say that their obscurity isn’t mostly a product of their style of music and extreme stances on issues, but I think it shows that more often than not, bands that express their politics very outwardly through their lyrics are only popular in certain (small) circles these days. While the logical progression here would lead to discussing bands putting across stances which some agree with and some don’t, and the impact it has on their popularity (see Dixie Chicks), but that’s an issue for another day.

I don’t condone or condemn Coldplay’s approach, primarily because I don’t know which approach I think is best. They are spreading a message. I couldn’t imagine Yellow hitting home with a driving message while maintaining the same melancholy flow. Yet, Martin could do better than incorporating the word yellow into the song because that is the color of the phonebook, something I’ve heard he did. Music is music, and should be enjoyed without the listener made to feel guilty about something. But, with so many problems in the world and so many people who turn a blind eye, musicians need to help get the word out.

Coldplay ended the concert with Fix You, a song Martin wrote for his wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, after her father died. The song starts out very slow and midway through breaks into a faster riff. The first guitar plays an energetic high melody with continuous fast picking and when the second guitar kicks in, accompanied by a raucous drum rhythm, the blend of guitar, drum, and piano is very powerful. I must too say, the lyrics fit the song very well.

All that and a bag of pork rinds....

2005-09-05T20:41:00.000-04:00

Why hello, web of the world.

BurlingtoneZ is here to rock the pretentious snot out of me. Just why am I contributing to this blog? Well, for one, I type to enlighten you. Burlington is a well-established bastion of "jam" music, essentially a genre founded by burnouts that play the same note over and over again for 45 minutes in an attempt to melt faces off. Hippies smell, but that's an entirely different beast. For the rest of us who enjoy music with originality and purpose, B-Town has a lot to offer, if you know where to look. I'd give you a complete forecast for the upcoming months, but where's the fun and surprise in that (and moreover, stuff for me to write about for the rest of our assignments)? Stay tuned...

Without any further ado, ladies and gents, smallfrey's novelty selection of the Labor Day weekend:

HARRY PYLE (link)

I was lucky enough to stumble across Mr. Pyle when he opened for a friend's band at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY on August 18th, 2005. It all started when a simple keyboard was placed upon the stage. A tall, lanky character, strapped with an accordion, sauntered across the platform...and descended. His mouth never opened, but his fabricated electronic beats and instrument's bellows did all of the talking. Creating a sound that belongs in the background of a computer game on acid, shot in the face, and eaten by wolves, Harry's music bordered self-irony and we were immediately captivated. After his short set, a companion of mine purchased a copy of his 31-track album, aptly titled "The Fourth Dimension of Music." The good sport he is, H.P. also threw in a Bic® lighter scotch taped with his logo and the slogan "Are you ready to rock, bitch?!" And aren't we ever, Harry Pyle, aren't we ever.

P.S. More shamless promotion: listen to DJ Tanner Mondays at noon on WRUV, 90.1 FM.

Who is MattyP?

2005-09-05T17:50:00.000-04:00

What's up blog readers. This is my first time ever making a blog and I shall do my best to keep it interesting. Being that this is a blog focused on music (hence the eZ in the title), I'll let you know a little about my musical selections as of today, hopefully creating some character development to my posts. Right now my music of choice includes such names as...
The New Deal (who will be here in Brewtown on thursday night!)
RHCP (who definitely will NOT be coming here)
Ratatat
Atmosphere
and others..
Also.. the new Kanye West album just dropped and that shit was hooooot. I've picked up a bunch of tickets for upcoming concerts that I want to check out. I'll write a lil sumtin sumtin after each show and let all my bleeders (web log readers) know how that went. Right now I have tickets for The New Deal (abbreviated- tND), Particle, and Matisyahu. In case you haven't gotten a chance to listen to these artists, I can fill you in now. Weelll.. Matisyahu is this dude who used to be a phishhead and then took a holy pilgrimage (a haj if you will) to Israel where he discovered his Jewish pride. He came back to the states all tricked out with the beard and top hat and started performing a kind of rap-reggae with interesting lyrics that skirt political issues dealing with Israel. But most of his songs are more about preaching peace which is cool. I was fortunate enough to catch him in concert once before (thanks to my hip mother who bought the tickets (there's your shout out ma)). Interestingly enough, the venue was the synagogue where he had his Bar Mitzvah a decade ago. The same Rabbi that called him up to read from the Torah when he was 13 got up and introduced him. Even though the venue was a little odd for gettin ones proverbial groove on.. I rocked out pretty hard. Moving on.. Particle. As far as their background goes.. I don't know all that much.. but I do have a friend who is cousins with someone in the band. This is another band I've seen before. When I first saw them in concert I hadn't heard them before so I asked someone at the show about what kind of sound they had. It was this pregnant hippie chick who said, "It's kind of like space.. porn.. funk.. ya know?" And... she was totally right. And it kicks ass. Particle definitely digs the late late night shows. I showed up to that first show at Irving Plaza in Manhattan at 8pm and found out that the doors open at 11:30. They didn't end up taking the stage until 2am. And on... The New Deal. This is one of the coolest sounds that I've heard. People try to dismiss them as techno. The mere fact that they can produce the kind of sounds they do with instruments is mind blowing.. and they are Canadian no less! Darren's drumming after a stiff drink of Jager and a bong rip or ten will melt your face. (can I write that?) Each song is glued together by the keyboard playing of Jamie who kind of has that gay librarian look but can kick your ass with a modulator. The third member of the tND trio is Dan on bass. Some criticize the man for being repetative with his lines. I say blasphemy! But anyway.. they are playing with Brothers Past on thursday at Higher Ground in South Burlington so check it out. Ok that's enough. You stay classy San Diego.

Welcome All!

2005-09-01T11:31:00.000-04:00

BurlingtoneZ is a sweet blog designed to discuss the tasty grooves that bless the city of Burlington, VT... and lauren's gunna go to Canadia.