Dig it? Yeah!

Dig it? Yeah!

Man, I just can't get back to sleep. I zonked out on the couch midway through The Colbert Report only to be woken a few hours later by those oh so annoying tin drums that provide the soundtrack to the late night Girls Gone Wild commercials. Ugh.

So I need to clear my head of that shite so I can get some sleep, and the only way I know to do that is to play something groovy, and if I'm going to do that I may as well share a cool tune with you while I'm at it. It's a win-win all around!

Sometimes I like to enter an album willfully ignorant of what to expect. I don't read the accompanying press release or bio, I don't do any initial research ... I just enter the first listen completely blank of most expectations. Not all -- since that's just about impossible -- but most.*

In the case of Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve Ark 1, all that I knew is that it was a side project of Erol Alkan, a dance producer currently popular with a number of British rock bands. As the album started up my initial reaction was that it sounded an awful like a dance music producer trying to make authentic sounding psych rock with a modern groove mentality in mind.

I had an "a-HA!" moment as the third track fired up, though, recognizing a quote from The Monkees' classic cult larf, Head. As the music started up I thought to myself they were doing an awful good job of approximating the vibe of one of that album's stand-out tracks, "Can You Dig It?" and was digging the dubby middle section ... until Mickey Dolenz's vocals kicked in and I realized that what I was listening to wasn't just an appoximation of "Can You Dig It?" but was in fact a bona fide remix! Who the hell remixes The Monkees?

So it turns out the whole disc is a personal remix project tackling a number of psychadelic tunes,. and I'm giving it props for taking a song I knew well and twisting it enough to make said song sound fresh to my ears after years of familiarity. Had I known what the album was ahead of time though I have to wonder if I would have the same gellful reaction once I realized what was going on. Hm, and if that's the case, I suppose I've ruined the surprise for you too, huh?

Oh well, y'know what? It's worth it ... so dig on the track I so enjoyed from a fresh perspective so recently.

MP3: Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve "Dig It"

*It should be noted I only utilize this approach, when I utilize it at all, for the first listen. I always do my homework before actually writing a review for public consumption.

Catching up!

Catching up!

I actually managed to avoid going online at all this weekend. (Well, I did check my email early Saturday, but then I logged off and didn't log back on until about 5 minutes ago ... amazing, huh?!)

So I'm catching up on all the day's news and such right now. More later...

Albarnlicious.

Albarnlicious.

I posted an MP3 of The Black Ghosts song guesting Damon Albarn on Chicagoist. Go get it.

OMGZ GNR!

OMGZ GNR!

So, word has it that Guns N' Roses are finally gonna make good on that whole "We're gonna beat MBV by releasing an album before them!" threat and release Chinese Democracy around Thanksgiving. That's the rumor at least. Me? I'm inclined to actually believe this one, especially since so much of the disc has already leaked and the sucktitude of its tracks are now confirmed.

I'm already waiting in line for my free Dr. Pepper!

This just in! Seems like old times...

This just in! Seems like old times...


My old DJ partner Rudy Tuesday has asked me to guest with him at The Burlington tonight. Our original legendary stint spinning at Ten56 led to at least two babies, two marriages, quite a bit of naked dancing, and plenty of shirts vs. skins pool games.

Let's see if we can one-up that track record tonight.

Softly snoring.

Softly snoring.

Betty the Beagle is just snoozing away a few feet from me on the couch. Just thought you should know.

DJ stuffs.

DJ stuffs.

JB and I are DJing Liar's Club tonight. PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE come by and visit us!

That is all.

For now.

All my Hideout Block Party photos are finally up...

All my Hideout Block Party photos are finally up...

Man, did I have a blast shooting the bands last weekend. I think my shots came out well, and I tried to get angles and feelings that aren't present in just about every other concert shot you see nowadays. The only bands that proved impossible to approach this way were Neko Case on Saturday and The New Pornographers on Sunday due to the lighting onstage ... so every photo out there looks the same for those two. Regardless, I still like those shots for the stark simplicity, and I think I caught a few of Neko in those "between the pose" moments. Anyway...

Hideout Block Party Saturday
Hideout Block Party Sunday
ZOMBIES!

LP versus EP.

LP versus EP.

You can't have an "album release party" for an EP because it's not an album, it's an EP. If you're releasing an EP, it's an "EP release party." Can we all just adopt this thinking and promote shows accordingly? Thanks.

Still in Michigan...

Still in Michigan...

I'm still painting a friend's farmhouse -- thus saving me from the ever present peril of watching daytime television or accidentally losing my footing and slipping into the Oprah Vortex -- so I'm pretty much unreachable once I hop off the Wi-Fi I'm riding at Bob's Big Boy. Head over to Chicagoist between 9 and 9:20 to peep LOTS of Hideout Block Party pix, including a full set devoted to Monotonix (the boys to the left, there). I'll be uploading loads more photos to my Flickr page, but these are the creme de la creme, so please head on over and enjoy them.

The painting is going well, depsite a wasp infestation outside one of the upstairs windows. This would only mildly freak me out if the little buggers didn't keep finding some way to get into the room I'm painting, so I'm constantly checking my arms and legs to make sure one of the little buggers hasn't snuck up on me. I have my shot in case I do get stung, but I really don't want to deal with that hassle. Hopefully I'll be able to wrap things up and head back to Chicago this afternoon, unmolested by stinging insects. Wish me luck!

BRAAAAAAAINS!

BRAAAAAAAINS!


I'm heading out of town to go make some money painting a few rooms for a friend, but you REALLY should head over to Chicagoist to see a bunch of photos of the zombies dancing to Robbie Fulks' rendition of "Thriller" at this weekend's Hideout Block Party.

Assemble, please.

Assemble, please.

This is where you need to be tonight. End of story. This album has been a loooong time in the making, so I'm pleased it's finally coming out!

Pinpointing another thing that distresses me about DFW bowing out.

Pinpointing another thing that distresses me about DFW bowing out.

This is from David Lipsky's excellent essay about DFW that ran on NPR a few days back:

When someone very gifted kills themselves, it's like the best student dropping out of high school. There's the tragedy, but it's set in a particular and personal fear: What are they seeing that we don't?

What indeed?

Observe: Real rock crit.

Observe: Real rock crit.

Read this Lester Bangs review of David Bowie's Station To Station right now. Go ahead, it won't take you more than 2-3 minutes, I'll wait.

Lester Bangs "Chicken Head Comes Home To Roost"

Done? O.K. Wasn't it awesome? Didn't it make you want to run out and buy (or at least download) the album right away? And why do you think that was? I'll tell you why. It's because Bangs wrote with equal parts passion, critical acumen, historical context, and downright unflinching honesty. Of course, Bangs being Bangs, you can't be 100% sure he actually liked the album, but his impressions make you want to find out for yourself.

Personally i don't strive to emulate Bangs' style -- that'd be pointless -- but I like to think I share the same hopes that he did (or at least the hopes I personally divine through his writing). I hope that what I write makes some people think about music. I hope what I write turns some folks onto something new, even if that exact same piece steers other folks away, since either result means I'm having some sort of effect on the reader.

I know I keep returning to the theme of what justifies one person to be a critic over another (and I'm not sure that phrase is really precise enough since I still maintain everyone has a right to their own opinion), and that I'm still sort of formulating my own definition (although I think you have to admit that I'm growing fairly consistent in my thoughts on the subject, even if there are still a few sloppy sections that either don't quite gibe or wholly contradict each other). What I do know is that particular Bangs piece on Bowie qualifies as "excellent" for all the reasons I mentioned above and one more, that may be even more important than the rest; it's a piece I can read and re-read without growing bored of it.

Criticism as an art form ... what a concept.

The Hideout is all over the new Ting Ting video.

The Hideout is all over the new Ting Tings video.

Awesome. And hey, don't forget the even more awesome Hideout Block Party is this weekend!

Oh that bygone era of political ads.

Oh that bygone era of political ads.

You know what the thing that strikes me most about the first ad? How well spoken the guy is, even when supposedly flustered. When did we stop speaking like that and why?


You know what else I noticed? Just how interchangeable the messaging of all these ads is with today's issues. Makes you wonder if we're damned to constantly repeat the mistakes of our past, huh?

Photographic personal history.

Photographic personal history.


1978: Two photos of me exist, both taken at Sears.

1988: One photo exists, yearbook.

1998: Four photos exist, all for Photogal's MA.

2008: 2,078 photos exist, hello new generation.

I document my life online, but it wasn't until I thought of the above that I realized, really realized, how much of what I -- and the people around me -- do is now documented through words and pictures. We've all truly become living novels. If it weren't for the fact that I'm so entranced with everyone else's story along with my own this might worry me. But I realize we're not headed towards becoming a compartmentalized exclusive society, no, we're growing to become a weaving web of inclusive stories connecting us all to each other like never before.

Why people hate photographers at concerts.

Why people hate photographers at concerts.

Ever since Photogal's interest in shooting concerts waned a few years ago, I've slowly been shooting more and more shows. At the outset it was a good team; she photographed the bands and I wrote about the performances. After a while she started to complain about it and I never understood why.

Well, over the last few concert seasons I've begun to see why. Let me preface this by saying I understand there are a number of freelance photographers that make their money off shooting concerts for various periodicals. I respect their work greatly and really enjoy looking at many of their pictures. And a large number of them are super cool folks. But a few of them, and I do mean the minority of concert photographers, are kind of big jerks that can give all photographers a bad name. When you're at the bigger shows, with barriers separating the stage from the crowd, this isn't as apparent, but when you encounter a show with no barrier, where the photogs have to embed themselves in the crowd to get a decent shot, the difference becomes glaring between the nice guys / gals and the jerks. Allow me to present a recent example.

I shot last week's Dandy Warhols show. When I got there I found out I was one of only two photographers with photo passes and there was no barrier. So between the first and second band I went down to the front of the stage and introduced myself to the security guy.*After that I went through the folks in front of the stage -- one by one -- and introduced myself, assuring them I would only be in their way for a few songs and making sure they were cool with that. Every single person I talked to said that was totally cool.

The first band I shot was Darker My Love, and I only stuck around to get a few shots of them before rejoining my friends near the back of the venue. One of them asked me why I was back so quickly so I explained my overriding philosophy to them in this situation. The folks down in front paid $30+ dollars for their tickets, got here when the doors opened so they could have a good spot, and the last thing I wanted to do was ruin someone else's concert experience when they had put in so much effort to ensure they had a good time.

We all watched Darker My Love, really enjoyed their set, and while they were breaking down and The Dandy Warhols' gear was being set up I went back down in the crowd. I got a little good-natured ribbing from the kids I had spoken to earlier, but everything was cool. Once the band started I crouched down and started snapping shots. That's when things got a little weird.

In my peripheral vision I saw a whole bunch of other dudes with SLRs pushing their way through the crowd and blocking people's view. One of them almost knocked me over -- which ain't easy since I'm a reasonably big guy stature-wise -- and I could see the disappointed look on fan's faces as these goons blocked their view and shoved kids out of the way to get their shots. I still have no idea how they got in with SLRs since there were only two photo passes** but there they were, ruining the beginning of the show for countless people.

Now look, folks want pictures of concerts. Heck, often the folks that want them most are the people who were actually there, so there's no reason to shove people out of your way when you're both aiming for the same goal!

I've seen hints of this behavior in the past, and always suspected that it's that sort of behavior that creates a situation where the vibe is security and fans versus the photographers, but this particular situation was the rudest behavior I'd seen yet.

So what's to be learned? Photogs, take a minute to talk to the folks around you. They'll let you take your shots, and you'll get even better ones because some pissed off kid won't be pushing you while you're trying to focus or kicking you in the back of the leg while you wait for halfway decent lighting. And you've GOT to learn that just because you have a photo pass, it doesn't put you on some higher plane that the rest of the folks there. In fact, I consider the fans a higher social class because they're the ones saving up the money to go to the show, and putting in the time to make sure they have just the right spot to see their favorite band.

Showing those folks a little respect will go a long way, and make the concert experience far more enjoyable for everyone.

*It should be noted that the vast majority of the security guys given stage duty are super cool and super professional. They're not constantly yelling at the crowd or intimidating them because they don't have to. They're usually seasoned and know what to look for, and what to defuse before it becomes a problem.
**I noticed the one other guy with a legit photo pass stayed in his spot at the side of the stage that he staked out with the same kids who had been waiting in front all night the whole time and bothered no one, by the way.

Fudging the facts.

Fudging the facts.

O.K., now I've repeatedly received that email claiming my taxes will be lower under John McCain if he's elected so I'm finally snapping and refuting that. Sure, if you're making $250,000+ your taxes will be lower ... but me and mine are nowhere near that income bracket.

Anyway, you've probably seen the same email, and I don't expect you to blindly take my word for it, so check out this point by point refutation

In fact, look over this whole site since it goes through and rates the truthfulness of each candidate, and seems pretty non-partisan (Obama and the Dems get quite a few thwacks for distorting the truth too).

This election has been driven by a lot of false information, and much of that has been in the form of forwarded emails that most folks seem to just take at face value. This stuns me, but I guess if you get an email forwarded to you by a friend your first instinct is to accept its claims. In fact this week's On The Media had a really good interview about this phenomenon and contained this head-bending little exchange:

BOB GARFIELD: Well, that’s interesting that you should observe that. Do you have any reason to think that people are sort of catching up to the dynamic of political emails and learning to discount them as much as they would discount, say, a political ad?

BILL ADAIR: Not yet, in fact, to the contrary. Originally we were seeing a lot of these chain emails from the right criticizing the Democrats. And what we've seen in the last two weeks is that the left is using the same tactic. I don't think we've reached the point yet where people are that savvy about these things.

And if you look at the polls, the percentage of people who believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim has actually increased, and I would attribute that largely to the chain emails. So I think we in the media really have an obligation to tell people what’s true and what’s not.

I would take that one step forward and point out that I think it's also people's responsibility to verify claims they're going to make on behalf of one candidate or another. This goes as much for the Republican touting incorrect tax figures as it does the Democrat falsely accusing Sarah Palin of banning books.

Lockdown.

Lockdown.

I was in bed and asleep before 9:30 p.m. Sunday night. Last night I elected to stay in again. Tonight I'm planning on skipping my regular Tuesday visit to The Burlington to stay in yet again. part of this is due to money issues as my safety net shrinks and my bank account teeters closer to the psychological edge of oblivion. I think another factor is just my need to slow down for a second and catch my breath. Last week I was out almost every night writing about or photographing concerts, and starting Wednesday I'll be going non-stop until Sunday as I shoot shows, DJ, and attend my friends' CD release ... whew!

So I suppose I needed this break.

This has also been a somewhat emotional week due to some reasons that will remain private, but I think it's fair to say that Margaret's exit from Chicagoist to move to New York, and DFW's death have both taken their toll on me as well. I know, I know, who knew I could be a sentimental sap like that, but there you have it, I am.

In cheerier news those Dandy Warhols photos are up on Chicagoist, with more on my Flickr page. I'm working on editing a bunch of other concert photos from this summer so I can put larger sets of bands like Battle, Radiohead, and Love and Rockets on my Flickr page as well. That reminds me, I have a story to tell you about concert photographers, but it's a little long so maybe I'll tell you about it tomorrow instead.

UPDATE: Hm, the above wasn't meant to bum anyone out or make them worry about me, but judging by the emails and messages I'm getting it did. I'm fine! I swear. I'm just sharing some opf my immediate concerns ... I mean, I was laid off during the last recession and back then I was far more worried about getting another job than I am now. In fact, it's only been 1.5 months that I've been out of work, and the minimum time they say it usually takes to get a new job is 2 months, so I think I'm doing O.K., especially given the number of interviews I've been on.

However, to those of you who expressed concern anyway, I do appreciate it!

EVEN CHEERIER NEWS TO OFFSET THE ABOVE: Congratulations to my little brother Sean for finally asking his long time girlfriend Maryann to marry him and she -- shockingly -- said yes. So big ups to my little bro, and my most heartfelt condolences to his future wife.