Friday, March 30, 2007

with a crown and a sceptre

*dusts off blog*

Heeeeeeeeeeeey, kids! I'm still alive. And I honestly wasn't intending on resuming my blogging habits until after Wigmore Follies this weekend, because there's so much to talk about (Egypt! The impending stresses of the last four weeks of school! The gallons of Aquanet and spray-on white hair color that get dumped on my hair during Wigmore intermission!) that it's kind of overwhelming.

Then I got a TMBG newsletter that said they're going to be performing at THE IRON HORSE (Saturday May 5, two shows), and I had to tell somebody. Like you (and you, and you--but not you, sorry). Because I miss the Iron Horse, and I miss TMBG, and the two together? man! I wish I could be there.

I'm also missing Paul and Storm/Jonathan Coulton AGAIN when they hit Schuba's on May 18 because I'll be in NYC by then. Sigh.

I don't have the new Kaiser Chiefs album, but based on the strength of their single "Ruby," I feel I need to get it, and fast. Same goes for the new Modest Mouse and "Dashboard." Kaiser Chiefs are coming to Chicago on Apr. 20, and I didn't initially purchase tickets to the show (I'm seeing ye olde Decemberists on Apr. 18 and 19), but I'm kind of questioning that decision now. Hmm. While I decide what to do, check out this interview with Decemberists guitarist Chris Funk in the Washingtonian.

Also, the new Shins album? EXCELLENT. Did I talk about that already? I can't even remember. But it was on my iPod shuffle throughout my Egypt travels, so the songs popped up often--and I'm digging it even more now.

And in true Egyptian form, I demand some baksheesh for pointing you in the direction of these shows/artists. I will stand here and point at this hieroglyph until you acknowledge me and give me something. Hello. Hello. Hello. Where are you from? Hello. Good morning. Hello.

More soon, mes cheries. Je t'aime et vous me manquez, for seriousness.

Friday, March 09, 2007

the sin, the sabotage

Did I neglect to mention that the Trip to Egypt Class leaves, um, later today?

For Egypt?

Like, Alexandria, and Cairo, and Luxor and stuff?

Yeah. I'm mostly packed, but there's a lot of last-minute things I need to do (back up my files, print off my interview contacts, etc). So, I'll be tired to travel tomorrow, as usual, but maybe I'll actually sleep on the plane like I'm supposed to.

You probably won't hear much from me, well, for awhile, because it's Wigmore tech week when I get back, soooo... feel free to keep commenting on your fave late-90s bands (Harvey Danger! Eve 6! Chumbawamba! well, maybe that's just Matt) and I promise to post a photo or two when I return.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

calling on in transit

The boys from Athens got a nice blurb in today's USA Today. Good to see they've got the same instinct about the state of the music "industry" as I do.

Also interesting--even though I was all pedantic in my last post about some dude getting the lyrics to "Video Bargainville" wrong, I might have no idea what's actually going on in "Radio Free Europe." I was going to title this post "beside yourself if radio's gonna stay," because that's what I always thought Michael was singing. Turns out half the lyrics sites seem to think it's "decide yourself," and a quick listen (for educational purposes!) seems to imply the latter is actually correct, and probably makes more sense. Not that R.E.M. lyrics ever have to make sense.

And I definitely thought it was "calling all river transit" until this very moment, so perhaps I should be more charitable about the mondegreens of others.

just ask for roger

Well, looks like that last post really shook the Primitive Radio Gods fans out of their hiding places. *scoff* Bet you guys liked "One Headlight," too. I loved the Wallflowers' "Sixth Avenue Heartache," but ten years later, I still think "One Headlight" was overplayed. guh.

Anyway, I was poking around Facebook instead of fixing my citations in my comment (yeah, yeah, I KNOW) after a I got a message from an old Fruhead friend of mine who mentioned that she'd listened to Bargainville for the first time in ages a little while ago. So I decided to see what was up in this "Fruheads United" group I joined. And I am astonished--ASTONISHED--that someone posted on the message board inquiring after the existence of the C album. I guess it's like any fandom--it is what you make of it. But, like, though I can kind of understand not owning it (well, not really--it's not the best album by any stretch, but you're calling yourself a Fruhead, right?), how could you not at least KNOW about it? I guess I make a point of knowing a lot about the artists I like (even the ones I'm not stalking traveling to see), so I can't comprehend such ignorance, particularly for THIS band.

Oh, and some dude on a different thread was like, "I have a college friend who says we can pay one price for two!" And I immediately thought, "PAL. you have a college PAL." I might not actively listen to their albums much any more, but the songs? The songs will never leave me.

However, I'm still pissed off I never got my Frumiles-earned copy of Fireside Fruvous. Grrr.

Monday, March 05, 2007

oh the glory that the lord has made

Huh. Popular music was really, really good a decade ago.

I happen to be digging through Wikipedia for some ideas for my Music Class paper, and I just happened to click through the entry for White Town's "Your Woman." The UK #1 song preceding its reign on the charts in late January, 1997? Tori Amos, "Professional Widow." What bumped it from its top spot? Blur, "Beetlebum."

Sigh. I loved, loved, LOVED radio back then. LOVED it. (With the possible exception of Primitive Radio Gods' "Standing Outside a Broken Phonebooth with Money in My Hand." I HATED that one.) The Boy and I will sometimes play "Remember when...?" and trade band names and song titles that captivated us back in the mid-to-late 90s, which was really when I started to come of age as a music aficionado. I remember getting ready for school listening to Cake's "The Distance" and No Doubt's "Just a Girl," or doing trig homework with Ben Folds Five or Radiohead. Or Bush. Or Soul Coughing. Oasis, the Wallflowers, K's Choice, Smashing Pumpkins, the Verve, Sarah McLachlan, Liz Phair, Tonic... yeah. There was a lot of really good stuff on alternative rock radio, and even though I certainly don't lack for new music nowadays, there's just not that collective sense of, "This is what an entire city is listening to, and damnit, it's great."

Then again, maybe I'm waxing poetic too soon: the song that preceeded "Professional Widow" on the UK charts? That would be the Spice Girls' "2 Become 1."

Forget I said anything. Back to the paper.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

is this just fantasy?

I smell strongly of baby powder.

No, I'm not suffering from diaper rash--we had our poster shoot for Wigmore Follies tonight and as I play a wizened older professor, I'm supposed to have white hair. Well, baby powder seriously isn't going to cut it for the actual show, mostly because the smell is making me nauseous, but also because my (bright red) hair isn't really looking all that gray. But it sure feels gross. And the smell, oh, the smell... I think I'm going to dream about it tonight. Blecchhh.

Also, I'm glad that the old-age-makeup tricks I learned at theater camp in middle school are still paying off well over a decade later. Of course, back then, we had to force a smile or frown in order to find the wrinkle lines and pencil them in. Now, they're just... there. *sigh*