Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Rating: 8.5
I have an oddly unironic obsession with playing solitaire. My fancy little PDA-cell phone has a built-in solitaire game, and I play it endlessly on the bus. I’ve been going at this for a couple of months now on my commute to and from work, keeping a little note with my high scores (I know, I use my PDA to it’s fullest capability. No internet plan, but I’ll play the shit out of the built in solitaire game.) Anyway, I’ve found an interesting dynamic with the music that I choose to listen to while I play solitaire. I want it to be upbeat, but not obnoxious. Not background music, per se… more motivational, but not motivational like “Gonna Fly Now.” I’ve found that proper music gives me the best possible solitaire form.
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Rating: 8.0
Rural Southwest England is where Polly Jean Harvey is originally from and it is where she has returned to after living abroad for several years. Her new album, White Chalk, is a stripped down, piano based recording that reflects the pastoral and remote setting where she once again resides. It is also the saddest thing that she has ever recorded. The songs are as bare as the chalkboard that the title suggests and her vocals lack much of their characteristic angst, howl and swagger. What’s more, they rarely gain any more volume than a low defeated whimper. However, Harvey has once again managed to cover ground that is unlike anything that she has previously done and her album, although at times painfully melancholy, is at the same time quite beautiful.
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Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Walking into a fairly empty venue on Sunday evening, I was surprised to see only about fifty people in attendance at what turned out to be a great show. I had missed the opening act and Nina Nastasia was already on the stage accompanied by one of the greatest drummers that I have ever seen, Jim White. The crowd, although small, was appreciative and more importantly, was quiet and respectful during the entire show, which is an absolute anomaly in Seattle.
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Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Seabear practice a new song in the bushes called, “You can suck it Sea Wolf”
Seabear – I Sing I Swim (I eat the dead carcasses of wolves) [mp3]
Sea Wolf – You’re a Wolf (Not an a-hole Bear) [mp3]
The Rock and Roll Hotel is nestled on H Street in D.C., quite inconveniently placed more than a mile from the nearest metro. The upstairs bar is a cozy little abode, with three amputated mannequins overhanging the bar. Instead of heads, the mannequins sport cow skulls that leer over your drink like overbearing relatives. There were winged Stratocasters on the ceiling and some kind of ridiculous anime show on Cartoon Network playing on the tube. After a couple of drinks and a few minutes of pondering what the hell the deal is with girls and Blue Moon, I headed back downstairs for the show.
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Thursday, October 4, 2007
Breaking Hanson News: Guitarist Isaac Hanson of the rock group Hanson has been hospitalized at Baylor University Hospital in Dallas, TX after last night’s performance. Isaac was complaining of severe pain in his shoulders and chest. He underwent several tests throughout the night and has been diagnosed with pulmonary embolism. (Which occurs when a blood clot in the extremities breaks away and travels to the lungs.) If you google pulmonary embolism, the following picture is now the #1 search result.
Rating: 6.0
British Columbia native, Carolyn Mark, has been active in the country music world since the early 1990s. She established herself by performing all over Canada and frequently tours the West coast of the United States. In 2000, she released a CD with Neko Case under the band name the Corn Sisters before wandering off to begin a solo career. She has been prolific as she has recorded five albums on her own now and the recently released Nothing is Free is an album that continues in her usual poignant style of roots country a la Tammy Wynette and the Carter Family.
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