nobunny loves you.

well shit, i keep forgetting to update here even though my mind has been semi-permanently stuck on the Nobunny show, recently attended on June 27 at the Empty Bottle. Nobunny is a very dear old friend of mine who long ago left Chicago for the old west. well shit, all of the western heat must have done a number on him, as he ended up creating the ultimate persona of a shy, twisted, mad genius, freakish bunny rocknroller slash one-man-band of sorts! his live performance at the Bottle consisted of vocals over a CD backing track, cute underpants, and insanely frenetic dancing. he's doing a lot of touring this summer (even an upcoming tour with Chicago's ultimate party band Johnny & the Limelights!), so check him out if ya can.

also be sure to grab the Nobunny LP, "Love Visions," on Bubbledumb records. almost worth it just for the great nod to the Ramones that is the cover...this album is chock-full of some of the greatest twisted, lo-fi bubblegum-pop-punk-rock'n'roll your ears will ever hear.

check out this awesome Nobunny music video!:


check out some Nobunny live footage with an actual band!:

foot set.

Club Foot set 6/23/08.

konk- your life
the hykkers- i want a break thru
pylon- feast on my heart
sarandon- joe's record
crystal stilts- converging in the quiet
this mortal coil- not me
antietam- shipshape
no age- teen creeps
vivian girls- where do you run to
sparks- here in heaven
bauhaus- honeymoon croon
dog faced hermans- fortune
wire- i am the fly
monochrome set- alphaville
999- the biggest prize in sport
plastic bertrand- 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
king khan & his shrines- i wanna be a girl
eater- i don't need it
the black & whites- gonna have some fun tonight
jay reatard- an ugly death
test patterns- i wanna be your boyfriend
nothing people- in the city
cheap time- people talk
a trois dans les we- contagion
throbbing gristle- united
soft pink truth- do they owe us a living
health- crimewave (crystal castles vs. health remix)
cut copy- unforgettable season
the stripes- leaving the suburbs
the sound- jeopardy
100 flowers- california's falling into the ocean
swell maps- spitfire parade
the fall- jawbone & the air-rifle
snivelling shits- isgodaman?
cringer- waste away
fiREHOSE- for the singer of r.e.m.
torche- across the shields
pissed jeans- throbbing organ
black lips- everybody's doing it
the godz- 1+1=?
fabulous diamonds- LP6
mekons- keep on hoppin'
slick rick- let's get crazy
madvillain- raid (feat. medaphor)
GZA- liquid swords
UGK ft. outkast- int'l players anthem
spits- dropout
hipshakes- hurt my pride
pink reason- borrowed time
cabine c- tao perto
tones on tail- go
black flag- tv party
limpwrist- cruisin at the show
eat skull- beach brains
a.h. kraken- verschwende deine jugend
embrace- money
born against- mount the pavement
toothpaste- palestine
harvey milk- motown
shellac- the admiral
jesu- you wear their masks
swans- take advantage
tractor- make the journey
john cale- bring it on up
vanilla fudge- some velvet morning

foot set.

Club Foot set from 5/26/08.

nick cave & the bas seeds- albert goes west
mudhoney- touch me i'm sick
turn pale- come with us
pretty things- scene one
love- the daily planet
magazine- a song from under the floorboards
chromatics- i'm on fire
talk talk- living in another world
okkervil river- unless it's kicks
jarvis cocker- don't let him waste your time
gnarls barkley- blind mary
nerves- when you find out
blondie- x offender
the three johns- atom drum bop
mass shivers- tense and anxious
celebration- fly the fly
public image limited- four enclosed walls
echo & the bunnymen- back of love
gleaming spires- a christian girl's problems
oingo boingo- little girls
gruppo sportivo- mission a paris
our daughter's wedding- lawn chairs
re-flex- flex it!
those french girls- corridor
video sex- mojo mama
alison moyet w/the darts- hitch hike
company b- fascinated
kissing the pink- certain things are likely
duran duran- new moon on monday
human league- don't you want me
erasure- sometimes
total coelo- i eat cannibals
digital leather- thin air
cameo- word up
fire engines- everything's roses
method actors- no condition
slits- typical girls
modettes- paint it black
gang of 4- it's her factory
gina x performance- kaddish
birthday party- waving my arms
adverts- stiff little fingers
winepress- stay awhile
sludgeworth- another day
screeching weasel- i can see clearly now
nofx- the longest line
international submarine band- i still miss someone
sam & dave- hold on i'm coming
vagrants- respect
roy orbison- mean woman blues
the 5 royales- when you walked through the door
alan parsons project- eye in the sky

*new favorite band alert*

i know, i know, i'm a little late on this (as per usual).

but CHEAP TIME, holy shit!

bratty, super pop-infused garage trash punk at its lo-finest. they're doing a lot of touring with Jay Reatard (how can i not stay away from this man?!), which makes total sense. so snotty, so wonderful, and i cannot stop listening to the "People Talk" track from their new self-titled LP on In the Red. apparently 2 of the people in this band were/are in that Be Your Own Pet band (!?!) which is weird because i do not think that band is awesome.

anyway, points of reference = Busy Singals, Red Kross, Jay Reatard, Tyrades, etc.

here's a pretty hilarious video for the song "Glitter and Gold":


in other "new favorite band" news, the Nobunny LP is out now on Bubbledump Records. i'm still waiting for my copy, but if you like fucking weird, pared-down, dirty yet catchy bubblegum-as-all-getout rock'n'roll you must check this out. Nobunny is a very mysterious Tuscon character who is also a dear old pal of mine and i can't wait until he comes back to Chicago to play in June.

here he is playing my favorite song in Austin:

lo-fi for the masses.

surprisingly enjoying the new No Age album, which is strange since i thought the first record wasn't as awesome as everyone else in the world thought it was (except for that killer opening track). i must revisit.

speaking of, this mtv.com clip (seriously?) concerns the current lo-fi movement (really?)...via Jay Reatard's blog. very, very interesting. also, John Norris is still alive (huh?)?

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

very, very interesting. and what, no mention of Pink Reason? the appropriation of the underground arts/music community into mainstream culture is constantly blowing my mind lately. thanks, Pitchfork.

evangelista.

i'm way overdue on this one, but it's still worth making some notations on Carla Bozulich's Evangelista live at Schuba's, way back on April 10. Carla Bozulich (music maker/performer/artist formerly of Geraldine Fibbers, Ethyl Meatplow, Scarnella, etc. etc. etc.) has been making these righteously beautiful albums for Constellation Records, and if you are unaware of these, please get your filthy hands on them. the first, titled "Evangelista," is a solo album with a little help from her friends in A Silver Mt. Zion. a break-up album of epicly tortured propotions, the most scraped-up screaming and intense piece of wax that i have ever laid ears upon, Carla takes elements of her avant-alt-country background and mixes them perfectly with atmospheric noise experimentation, instrumental interplay, and straight-up misery (captured both vocally and instrumentally).

the most recent album, titled "Hello, Voyager" and credited to the band Evangelista, is a step beyond stunning; Bozulich's collaboration with core bandmate, bassist Tara Barnes, proves to be a duo of perfection. the delicate balancing of crackled feedback with gorgeous orchestration, brutal doom with jazzy lightness, and screaming ferociousness with damaged childlike innocence is the best kind of mindfuck that you could ever hope and ask for.

live, Carla had a full band in tow (another guitarist, cellist, drummer, bassist and keyboard/pedals/synths dude) and despite the small crowd (what the fuck, people?!) and slight sound issues (what the fuck, Schuba's?!) she pulled off one of the most emotionally heartwrenching performances that i have ever witnessed. by the second song i was (embarassingly) in tears, and by the first few notes of her fantastic cover of Low's "Pissing" i was a plain ole' glorious mess. seriously for real, i needed my hand held for the rest of the show. the sadness and emotional intensity that wells out from her performances is ridiculously catching. and that fucking voice! that fucking whiskey & cigarettes 'been there done that' angry loud sad pained and tortured voice...it's seriously killer X1000 live. Carla didn't play guitar a whole lot due to a wrist injury (i think?) but danced around the stage in a Twin Peaksian manner and sang her fucking heart to the moon, cried a little and smiled a lot and got off the stage and sang right up to us. her band was awesome and perfect- band members getting on and off stage as needed, creating the perfect creepily orchestrated soundscape, and keeping a rather serious demeaner behind Carla's psychological intensity. it was a beautiful and painful (in the most positive sense of the word) set, for sure.

i'm not kidding when i'm saying you should get your filthy hands on these records, and go see Evangelista live, she's still touring for quite a while!

foot set.

Club Foot set 4/28/08

poison girls- i'm not a real woman
nina hagen- punkwedding
ut- canker
sonic youth- my friend goo
tracy & the plastics- city
cold cold hearts- 1-2-3...many!
instant girl- euphemized
god is my copilot- down down baby
bikini kill- suck my left one
heavens to betsy- intermission 247
slant 6- double edged knife
bratmobile- panik
huggy bear- erotic bleeding
sleater kinney- not what you want
team dresch- hate the christian right!
quails- move forward
les baton rouge- women in control
mika miko- attitude
gossip- standing in the way of control
raincoats- dance of hopping mad
rip rig & panic- those eskimo women speak frankly
vivian girls- wild eyes
pandoras- cry on my own
breeders- happiness is a warm gun
naked raygun- entrapment
marginal man- manipulator
mummies- she lied
birdland w/lester bangs- fade away
the other half- mr. pharmacist
hollies- king midas in reverse
soft machine- we did it again
tv ghost- nodoz
sex vid- nests
karp- dusk
minsk- white wings
sweet cobra- luddite
high on fire- turk
king khan & the shrines- land of the freak
new york dolls- trash
sam the sham & the pharaohs- mystery train
dave clark 5- i like it like that
miss alex white & the red orchestra- future talk
sisters- lust is just
night marchers- i wanna deadbeat you
the carbonas- frothing at the mouth
jay reatard- screaming hand
manikin- death march
cheveau- el tortuga
epic soundtracks- wild situation
jesus & mary chain- down on me
mission of burma- mica
toyah wilcox- danced
kleenex- ain't you
maximum joy- stretch
bush tetras- you can't be funky
delta 5- mind yr own business
bauhaus- too much 21st century
mahjongg- problems
silver apples- whirly-bird
frank black- man of steel
vagrants- respect
roy orbison- mean woman blues
the 5 royales- when you walked through the door
alan parsons project- eye in the sky

reatarded.

i keep forgetting to dote on Jay Reatard and his new single that recently came out on Matador, who is (if for some reason you're living under a rock and unaware) releasing a series of limited-quantity singles by Jay. this is all very exciting news, but also a slight cause for concern, as Matador seems to be a deathtrap label for the rock'n'rollers. yeesh.

anyway, the new single = 2 tracks of what Jay does best, which is expertly executed poppy, fuzzy, fast r'n'r with a new-wave bent. oh, and lyrics that are equally hilarious and disturbing and dark and silly. Sam and i spent a good half hour (possibly more) flipping it over and over and over again ("she creeps me out/ she creeps me in...") at work last week. i've read a lot of disappointed testimonials concerning this single in and around the interweb, but i do not understand the hate. i give it an A- rating, the minus being there just because i will be honest with the fact that these two songs aren't quite as catchy as the "Blood Visions" tracks or (my alltime favorite) "I Know a Place." still, if you're at all a fan, you should definitely purchase a copy.

i must admit to my own bias, though, as Jay Reatard is one of the few people that make my inner cheesy 'fan girl' come out strong. i mean, he's really freakin' hot! he shits gold, for all i care. really though, he's so insanely prolific (short list of bands he's been in being: Reatards/Lost Sounds/Final Solutions/Angry Angles/Destruction Unit/there's a handful more) and his songwriting abilities have been so expertly honed over the years that really, everything he does IS gold. i swear.

and i hate to give attention to Pitchfork (really i do), but this weeks' newly launched Pitchfork TV has a really nice video of Jay Reatard live at the Cake Shop NYC from last October (the WHOLE SET is here!):


(swoon).

lastly, did you know that he has a blog? it's not updated very often but you'll find a minor treasure trove of demos, live tracks, weird tracks, and funny pictures.

(double swoon).

a lesson in why it's dangerous to stray from punk rock.

Pissed Jeans, Empty Bottle, 4/5
working in a record shop with high-traffic sales centering around popular "indie" rock, WXRT adult alternative, and anything doted on by tastmaking Pitchfork reviews has slowly rocked me out of punk/hardcore/under-the-radar weirdness. to my absolute dismay, me and the DIY underground have become increasingly disconnected in the past 5 years. a lot of things can explain this, ie: the end of shows at the Fireside Bowl, growing older, having less expendable income for shows/records, working in an indie-rock stalemate, what have you.

regardless, punk/hardcore is in my heart forever and once in a while i manage to get back into the world and saturday at the Bottle was an instance of punk rock love reinstated. Pissed Jeans, notorious "post"-hardcore sludgey noisemakers (whose newest full-length is strangely out on Sub Pop), raged. they raged my face off, everyone's face off, shoes flying across the bar, maniacal punk raging, it's what i needed. after the first quarter of 2008 being a total shitsystem, rage is what i needed. i've forgotten how much the live experience of punk/hc has been an outlet for the inexplicable rage that has burned inside me since my tender preteen years, and disconnection from that has been problematic at best. all it takes is seeing a fucking righteous show. did i mention that Pissed Jeans' drummer is most definitely the best drummer in punk ever? fuck. did i mention that the singer moves about the stage in such a way that can only be compared to an insane version of Ian Curtis + Mick Jagger? shit. did i mention that the guitarist can make fast punk riffs AND loud noisey psych-y weirdness, like, at the same time? and it's all hollering and blasting and the perfect balance of alienating brutalism and Flipper-esque riffage? FUCK.

this weeks' Onion spotlighted the show by saying:

Slathered in dissonance, misanthropy, and every manner of glandular discharge, Pissed Jeans' breakout 2007 album, Hope for Men, is a fucking wreck- and it's the ideal antidote to the new millenium's overabundance of bland indie pop.

hallelujah. rage on.

foot set.

i had to cancel last month due to life insanity. last night the bar was DEAD. but DEAD = creative freedom and no shitty requests.

Club Foot set 3/31/08.

bob seger system- chain smokin'
brian jonestown massacre- a new low in getting high
sam cooke- that's it, i quit...
lesley gore- that's the way boys are
the beatles- i'm looking through you
creedence clearwater revival- i put a spell on you
jr. walker & the all-stars- (i'm a) roadrunner
the coasters- i'm a hog for you
etta james- tell mama
black merda- prophet
rolling stones- country honk
the music machine- talk talk
13th floor elevators- fire engine
terry reid- superlungs my supergirl
tractor- all ends up
stooges- real cool time
patti smith- free money
robert wyatt- i'm a believer
modern lovers- i wanna sleep in your arms
richard hell & the voidoids- betrayal takes two
nick lowe- heart of the city
devo- come back jonee
klaus nomi- you don't own me
wipers- can this be
cramps- new kind of kick
dictators- minnesota strip
clash- spanish bombs
ramones- i wanna be well
the members- sound of the suburbs
busy signals- matter of time
lost sounds- dark shadows
cococoma- too tired
toy dolls- i've got asthma
zero boys- drug free youth
flamin' groovies- yes it's true
marked men- fix my brain
fuzzbox- love is the slug
split enz- i got you
wall of voodoo- can't make love
quando quando- tingle
calculators- dead is dead
orange juice- wan light
raincoats- off duty trip
shop assistants- fixed grin
bunny drums- little room
ultravox- saturday night in the city of...
mission uk- bridges burning
big country- big country
depeche mode- never let me down again
roxy music- all i want is you
talking heads- don't worry about the government
colin newman- inventory
baltimora- tarzan boy
men without hats- living in china
new order- ceremony
cure- the baby screams
gang of four- it's her factory
birthday party- waving my arms
pegboy- surrender
t. rex- metal guru
peter, bjorn & john- writer's block
stevie wonder- for once in my life
shirelles- mama said
scott walker- next

momentary lapse of...

i always forget about this.

mental note: get in the habit of writing (blogging? typing? reviewing? ranting?) a bit more often.

on the subject of habits: quit smoking, quit chocolate, quit going to sleep at 4am.

a few musical lists to cap off my night:

RECENT RELEASE BUMMERS
1. Vampire Weekend (lo-fi indie pop ripping off...Paul Simon's Graceland....really?!).
2. She & Him (celebrity infiltration of indie culture, cutesy covers, kill me).
3. Steve Malkmus (he actually ROCKS on this recent album but he's still...boring).
4. Gnarls Barkley (biggest bummer for as there are no party tracks whatsoever. for the love of god just make another Crazy!).
5. Atlas Sound (love Deerhunter, but this is too calm).

RECENT RELEASE WINNERS
1. Mission of Burma reissues (i can't say anything that hasn't been said before about this awesome band but these Matador vinyl reissues are beautiful and come with a ton of extra cool shit).
2. Evangelista (Carla Bozulich, please marry me).
3. Baby Dee (tranny carnival freak harpist belting out torch songs in a freakish Antony way = totally my style).
4. Scott Walker vinyl reissues (they look great, they sound superb, and i'm glad they came out because i've always been to cheap to shell out the $$$ for originals).
5. Coathangers (the new single is "totes" rad, post-riot grrrl sleazepunk at its finest!).

best of 2007!

FINALLY, my 'best of the music world 2007' list is ready. only a month late, not too bad!

here they are, my most favorite 25 musical recordings of 07:

25. CPC Gangbangs- Mutilation Nation
stoney, dirty garage punk with a lot of broke-ass fuzz and psychedelic insanity and a little bit of a nod to early Joy Division.
24. Deerhunter- Cryptograms/Fluorescent...LP
the perfect meeting of shoegaze and Factory Records, with a creepily monotonous overall feel.
23. Mammatus- Coast Explodes
psychedelic, proggy, epic, motherfuckin-heavy-ass rock.
22. Okkervil River- Stage Names
i'm typically not a fan of this sort of middle-of-the-road indie rock crap, but i was pretty much bowled over by "stage names." clever, sad, catchy and a bit heartbreaking.
21. Marnie Stern- In Advance of the Broken Arm
Marnie Stern is a mastermind of guitar weirdness. this record is both minimal and completely shredding in the most unusually intricate, finger-tapping kind of way. not to mention the truly weird Deerhoof-like vocals. the album is almost undescribable but so, so great!
20. Fucked Up- Year of the Pig 12"
brutal, punishing and haunting all in one little EP.
19. Of Montreal- Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
everyone knows about this band so i won't say much except that this is one of the funnest, danciest, electro-popish records i had the pleasure of listening to this year, perfectly paired with some of the darkest themes/lyrics.
18. Parts & Labor- Mapmaker
brilliant anthemic punk/electronic weirdness! the most exceedingly triumphant record of 2007! like a modern noise-punk version of Husker Du! i love it!
17. Miss Alex White & Red Orch- Space & Time
Miss Alex White and her Red Orchestra play ballsy, slightly poppy garage rock better than pretty much any other garage bands these days. her 2nd album is seriously fucking ripping. it's like Sleater Kinney if Sleater Kinney were boot-stompin' sneaking-cigarettes-in-the-school-bathroom tough rebel rocker chicks!
16. Jesu- Lifeline EP
everyone else loved the full-length and hated this. i thought the full-length was "eh," but fell for the heavy, airy, dreamy melodies in these 4 tracks. plus a collaboration with Jarboe (of the Swans, duh)! lot's more experimentation from these guys, and i'm loving it.
15. Oxbow- Narcotic Story
weird, scary, weird, scary, weird, scary.
14. Mark Sultan- Sultanic Verses
if you like any of Mark Sultan's other projects (namely, King Khan & BBQ Show), you will love this.
13. Boris w/ Michio Kurihara- Rainbow (technically 2006 but whatev)
Boris + guy from Ghost = pummeling psychedelic beauty.
12. Jay Reatard- Night of Broken Glass 12," Terror Visions LP, I Know a Place 7"
everything he does is brilliant, basically. absolutely PERFECT garage-pop-rnr-whatever. PERFECT.
11. Pissed Jeans- Hope for Men
the new wave of hardcore. a lot of Birthday Party-like snarling and meandering while retaining a sense of Black Flag early-days of 'core.
10. Busy Signals- S/T
Chicago's Busy Signals are waving the banner for late-70s britpunk and doing it better than anyone else. they are so much like the Rezillos that it's almost ridiculous, but goddamn this record is so catchy and great, it doesn't even matter!
9. Bobby Conn- King for a Day
my absolute favorite local talent presents us with another soul/r&b/prog/pop/conceptual/funk/rock mesh of awesomeness!
8. Daily Void- Identification Code
out of the ashes of the Functional Blackouts come Daily Void. straight-ahead, fast, perfectly-executed, mean and dark garage-punk.
7. Familjen- Det Snurrar I Min Skalle
swedish electro-pop. a 21st century New Order, anyone? wish i could understand the lyrics, though.
6. Big Business- Here Come the Waterworks
BRUTAL.
5. Vee Dee- Glimpses of Another World 7"
Vee Dee are finally back! hell yeah! i'm so excited! this single is just a premier of what's to come, but it's 3 songs of sweet sweet psychedelic garage rock. a teaser of sorts, showing us how Vee Dee are growing and changing and entering the land of longer, more meandering, more instrumentated songs...and in this case, change is good!
4. Clockcleaner- Babylon Rules
creepy, dark, flipper+cramps+birthday party+big black, screaming, screeching, ugly, violent, excellent.
3. LCD Soundsystem- Sound of Silver/45:33
i know, everyone loves this album. the best dance party album of '07, hands down.
2. Coathangers- S/T LP, Never Wanted You 7"
these Atlanta gals really know how to fucking rock. they take Riot Grrrl and turn it on its' head...actually, this is like some post-riot grrrl shit, with songs screaming about how you need to leave their boyfriend alone or else they'll punch you in the twat! no kidding! bass-heavy, danceable grooves with a certain essence of DIY punk and pure rock-and-roll, this is my new favorite band of all time.
1. Grinderman- S/T
duh. anything Nick Cave-related will always make my #1.


honoroble mentions go out to 2007 releases from Panda Bear, Akron Family, Circle, CoCoComa, Om, Andrew Bird, They Might Be Giants, Angels of Light and Neurosis.

best live shows i had the good fortune to attend in 2007:
-mika miko at Bottle
-melvins/big business at Double Door
-deerhunter at Pitchfork
-janeane garafolo & patton oswalt at the Vic
-coathangers at Ronny's
-king khan & bbq/busy signals/johnny & the limelights at Note
-zach galifianakis at Vic
-jay reatard/daily void at Hideout
-jay reatard/busy signals at Note
-plastic crimewave sound/michael younkers at Stop Smiling space
-miss alex white/vee dee at Hideout
-lcd soundsystem at metro
-mammatus/acid mothers at Bottle
-grinderman at Metro

foot set.

i'm back to archiving my DJ-sets. since smoking in bars is now banned in Chicago, i distract myself from all those wanting-to-smoke feelings by meticulously writing out everything i play. soon i'll get around to posting my "best of 2007" list, so keep an eye out!

Club Foot set 1/28/08

the monkees- tear drop city
coathangers- tripod machine
reatards- monster child
vee dee- glimpses of another world
bobby conn- on the farm
OMD- messages
pere ubu- breath
sparks- a big surprise
icicle works- whisper to a scream (birds fly)
nick cave & the bad seeds- train long-suffering
om- unitive knowledge of the godhead
crispy ambulance- bardo plane
sisters of mercy- gimme shelter
and also the trees- suffering of the stream
the names- cut
blondie- x offender
forget the whimpering child & become the warrior- left you lying
kraftwerk- the model
ministry- cold life
heaven 17- play to win
kissing the pink- big man restless
yaz- nobody's diary
pete shelley- homosapien
the three johns- awol
robert ellis orrall- white noise
erase errata- beacon
james white & the blacks- irresistable impulse
red lorry yellow lorry- hollow eyes
killing joke- complications
gary numan/tubeway army- my shadow in vain
the the- uncertain smile
daily void- the man without a face
Q-factor- i'm not that stupid
jay reatard- my family (i KNOW, already played Reatards, this was a request!)
cpc gangbangs- what love is
vindictives- this is my face
deep wound- dead babies
loli & the chones- sick of you
dillinger 4- holy shit
ruts- babylon's burning
stranglers- (get a) grip (on yourself)
sonics- strychnine
animals- for miss caulker
yardbirds- for your love
shadows of knight- tomorrow's gonna be another day
the leaves- hey joe
DMZ- you're gonna miss me
the monks- cuckoo
truth & janey- around and around
kim fowley- the trip
the who- so sad about us
morgen- welcome to the void
clockcleaner- vomiting mirrors
dead kennedys- buzzbomb
bhopal stiffs- product of society
sham 69- hey little rich boy
dickies- rosemary
minutemen- political nightmare
big boys- no love
roky erickson- i walked with a zombie
queen- keep yourself alive
gilberto gil & caetano veloso- bat macumba
psychic tv- good vibrations
captain beefheart- white jam
hamilton, joe frank & reynolds- don't pull your love out
plastic bertrand- ca plane pour ma

been a long time comin'

i'm returning to this blog, after an extraordinarily long hiatus.

for mostly music-related ramblings...stay tuned!

setlist.

another setlist, from 2/26/07 at Club Foot.

Fat Boys- Human Beat Box #2
Wilderness- Living Through
Deerhunter- Lake Somerset
Ted Leo- The Unwanted Things
Turtles- Buzz Saw
Newbeats- Bread & Butter
Stevie Wonder- Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours
Etta James- Tell Mama
Lorraine Chandler- I Can't Change
Baby Huey- Hard Times
Laura Lee- Rip Off
Jill Reed- Maybe
Peter Schilling- Major Tom (Coming Home)
Weezer- The World Has Turned and Left Me Here
Brainiac- PU55YFOOT1N'
Carbonas- Frothing at the Mouth
Jay Reatard- My Family
Wire- Mannequin
International Exiles- Let's Be Sophisticated
Kissing the Pink- Watching Their Eyes
Monochrome Set- Eine Symphonie des Grauens
Magazine- TV Baby
Wall of Voodoo- Tomorrow
Tubeway Army- My Shadow in Vain
Kommunity FK- We Will Not Fall
Comast Angels- Independence Day
Echo & the Bunnymen- Silver
Talking Heads- Seen and Not Seen
Roxy Music- All I Want is You
Mo-Dettes- Satisfy
Smiths- Bigmouth Strikes Again
Of Montreal- Suffer for Fashion
Clipse- Wamp Wamp

come to our party. valentine's day. The Onion says so.

Hi people.

My DJ partner, John, and I are throwing a party at the Beat Kitchen on Valentine's Day (Wed). John B. (aka "The Headliner") and I (aka "Tainted Love") will be DJing all night. I really, really, really hope that y'all can come by. it's $5 to get in.

OH YEAH THE ONION talked about this in their little "Stuff To Do: Events Around Town This Valentine's Day:"
Dance (Or Die Trying): A St. Valentine's Day Massacre: The Beat Kitchen throws a dance party with DJs John B. and Melissa G. They say dance is a great aphrodisiac- but not if you're that guy who thinks finger-guns are an acceptable dance move

We're totally famous. So come out and hang with us. This will be like the Hideout circa 2001 when Saturday late-night parties were awesome. I'm so excited. And I would seriously love you forever if you could repost this or tell your friends about it.

More info:
Hosted By: John B / House Call Ent / Beat Kitchen
When: Wednesday Feb 14, 2007
at 9:00 PM
Where: Beat Kitchen
2100 W Belmont
Chicago, IL 60618
United States
Description:
John B / House Call Ent / Beat Kitchen

Click Here To View Event

skeletally yours.

pretty sure that i made a killing with this Halloween-themed set last night (thank you, Monday Night Drinking Club/Club Foot):

Skip James- Devil Got My Woman
Clovers- Devil or Angel
Brenda Lee- Let's Jump the Broomstick
Elvis Presley- (You're the) Devil in Disguise
Hank Williams- Howlin' at the Moon
Johnny Cash- (Ghost) Riders in the Sky
Charlie Daniels- The Devil Went Down to Georgia
Jumpin' Gene Simmons- Haunted House
Round Robin- I'm the Wolfman
Archive King- Vampires
Searchers- Love Potion No. 9
Bobby "Boris" Pickett- Monster Mash
Shangri-Las- Leader of the Pack
Screamin Jay Hawkins- I Put a Spell on You
Ghastly Ones- House on Haunted Hill
Shaggs- It's Halloween
Neanderthals- Martian Hop
Sonics- Witch
Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs- Little Red Robin Hood
Roky Erickson- Don't Shake Me Lucifer
King Khan & BBQ Show- Zombies
Jay Reatard- Blood Visions
Exploding Hearts- Your Shadow
Rocket From the Crypt- Evil Party
Angry Samoans- Not of this Earth
Dead Kennedys- I Kill Children
Vindictives- The Terrible Monster
Weirdos- We Got the Neutron Bomb
Suzi Quatro- Devil Gate Drive
Black Sabbath- Black Sabbath
Iron Maiden- The Number of the Beast
Slayer- Raining Blood
Death- Open Casket
Vee Dee- Blood Zombie
Misfits- Horror Business
Ministry- Every Day is Halloween
Sisters of Mercy- This Corrosion
Ramones- Cretin Hop
Big Boys- Mutant Rock
Only Ones- Creature of Doom
Devo- Mongoloid
Shudder to Think- A Vampires Proposal
Pixies- In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song)
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists- I'm a Ghost
Skull Kontrol- Satan is Jesus to Me
Delinquents- Alien Beach Party
Destroy All Monsters- Vampire
Lake of Dracula- Dracula Killed Frankenstein
Scratch Acid- Monsters
Crime & the City Solution- Dangling Man
Artery- The Death of Peter X
Crispy Ambulance- October 31st
Kommunity FK- Haunt
Shellac- Ghosts
Melvins- Blood Witch
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince- A Nightmare on My Street
Whodini- Freaks Come Out at Night
Ray Parker, Jr.- Ghostbusters
Sparks- Eaten by the Monster of Love
Gary Numan- Praying to the Aliens
Siouxsie & the Banshees- Spellbound
Aural Exciters- Spooks in Space
Andrew WK- Ready to Die
My Chemical Romance- Dead
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds- Red Right Hand
Neutral Milk Hotel- Ghost
Soft Cell- Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go

i live for windy city nostalgia.

at this exact moment, i am watching the men of Naked Raygun acting as guests on the legendary Chicagoland area public access television show JBTV. first of all, i am shocked and amazed that JBTV is still airing, as i used to watch it fairly religiously when i was a tiny little teenager, and was exposed to many a great local (and national) underground/punk band through it- shit, i must have been 17 years old the last time i watched an episode. secondly, i am delighting in the fact that (so far) they have chosen to play videos of Jesus Lizard and Mustard Plug. also lot's of old Raygun live footage. i suppose that this is all something of an advertisement for the upcoming Riot Fest 2006, which i have already taken the entire day off work for. i am ready and more than willing to relive my teenage years, thank you very much.

i am perpetually nostalgic for the good ole days of the chicago underground. perhaps this is why i spent about 2 hours last night searching for old Fireside Bowl videos on Youtube. or maybe it's because i have no life. your call.

My Lai, sometime in 1998 or 1999. one of my favorite bands to ever come out of Chicago.
MK Ultra, i have no idea what year. one of Chicago's greatest hardcore bands (besides Crudos).
4 Squares, a video for one of their songs. some scenes show at Fireside.
Vindictives, ok, this isn't at the Fireside (i have no idea where this is shot at), but it's the Vindictives for fucks' sake!
The Locust, 7/24/99.
Arab on Radar, sometime in '99.

a while ago i was toying with the idea of doing a Dance of Days style book about the Chicago punk scene. all of these Chicago punk band reunions that are happening all willy-nilly are causing me to toy with this idea a little more. another (more ambitious) idea is doing an all-reissues label that focus on Chicago area bands....possibly called Stupid Little Label (bonus points if you know what that's a reference to).

she's crafty.

spending a lot of time in bed throughout the past month has spawned quite a lot of knitting and crocheting, crafty firsts, and catfighting (getting cats away from moving yarn is not easy). below are some pictures of my most recent finished projects.





(right) knit pink & black fuzzy scarf. made with cheap yarn that's like 2 strands twisted together (a pink velveteen strand with a fuzzy black string yarn). i used knit stitch straight through, and added some easy tassling at either end. it's really fucking long, almost 6 ft!






(left) my first blanket! i'm aware of the horrendous colors, but this yarn (Lion Brand Homespun) was on sale and picked over when i picked up the pattern, and i had to take what i could get. this is crocheted. double crochet with 2 strands at once, only stitching through the back loop. border is some weird combo of double crochet and chain stitches, but i couldn't quite keep it regular. but it's warm, the cats love it, and that's all that matters.











(right) another simple knit scarf. done with a few skeins of (again) cheap Caron Charming yarn (fancy term for "confetti"). knit stitch all the way through, easy tassling, easy scarf. took a couple hours. maybe less.






















(left) my first hat! this was fun. i messed it up something major, which i'll discuss later. crocheted from a pattern in Stitch N Bitch
Crochet: Happy Hooker, although i made some slight changes because i couldn't get the gauge quite right. used cheap (do you see a pattern here?) Red Heart Worsted Weight black yarn. i took some liberties with the earflaps and totally fucked them up, as you can see, they are way too big and floppy. i'm hoping to add a little length to them, and maybe some buttons, so that i can strap 'em underneath my chin (see top picture for reference).

















so that's that. sorry for all of the 'emo' bathroom mirror shots, but i had no models available at the time of shooting. more music-related stuff later.

long time, no bones.

well, about a months' worth of sickness and two weeks without a computer have contributed to my ridiculously pitiful procrastination here. thankfully, i am almost recovered and my poor laptop has (finally) come back healthy from the Apple Fix-It Headquarters, Inc., and i am ready to rebound with more useless posting.

first off, Part 2 of Setlist Mania(c), from Club Foot 9/25/06:
round 1
Brian Eno- Backwater
Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band- Nowadays a Woman's Gotta Hit a Man
Animals- It's My Life
Velvet Underground- Rock & Roll
Shadows of Knight- Oh Yeah
Turtles- You Showed Me
Yardbirds- Putty
Dixie Cups- You Should Have Seen the Way He Looked At Me
Monks- Love Came Tumblin' Down
Sonics- Cinderella
Monkees- Circle Sky (live)
Brian Jonestown Massacre- When Jokers Attack
Mountain Goats- This Year
Devin Davis- Paratrooper With Amnesia
Miss Alex White & The Red Orchestra- Walk Around
Sleater Kinney- Things You Say
Team Dresch- Hate the Christian Right
Monorchid- A.P.B.
V. Reverse- Stupid Little Zine
Bhopal Stiffs- Road to Bhopal
Winepress- The Girl That Broke My Heart
round 2
Black Flag- Jealous Again
Vindictives- Get Lost
Queen- Don't Stop Me Now
Scissor Sisters- I Feel Like Dancin'
Rapture- Get Myself Into It
Talk Talk- It's My Life
Yaz- Nobody's Diary
Joy Division- Disorder
Malaria!- You You
Glaxo Babies- This is Your Life
Liaisons Dangereuses- Etre Assis Ou Danser
Black Heart Procession- To Bring You Back
William Elliott Whitmore- One Man's Shame

randomness in the form of a numerical list:
1. awesome bands i have seen live in the past month include (but are not limited to): Cheer Accident, Team Dresch (reunion show of sorts for the Estrojam Festival), Bobby Conn, Detholz!, Om, Screaming Yellow Zonkers, Mastodon.
2. awesome shows i have missed due to sickness, lack of money, or other factors: Winepress/Mushaganas reunion, Pissed Jeans, Grizzly Bear, Sweet Cobra, Zombi/Supersystem.
3. for feminist-y types who have torrid love affairs with Pop Culture, i highly recommend buying/borrowing/renting/netflixing the "Roseanne" DVD sets (seasons 1-5 are currently available). this being my favorite sitcom of all time, i have slowly been acquiring these collections, and watching the episodes as an 'adult' is a completely interesting and worthwhile experience. i'm beginning to regret not writing my undergraduate thesis on the subject of "'Roseanne' as Pivotal Mainstream Television" via feminist critique (rather than the subject of "Riot Grrrl as Pivotal Subcultural Movement"....yawnz).
4. all i want to listen to as of late is modern classical/composition: Erik Satie, Gorecki, Debussy, Bela Bartok, Penderecki, John Cage, Charles Ives, etc.
5. and also, the greatly underappreciated Ut, whose classic albums "Griller" and "In Gut's House" have finally been reissued by Mute/Blast First. this trio of ladies began on the tail-end of the New York No Wave scene, never got much recognition in the States, moved to London, and didn't get much recognition there, either. sad, because these albums are chock-full of weirdly abrasive, jagged, no-wavey artpunk. "Griller" was produced by Albini, too. check it out if you like Lilliput or Bikini Kill or anything in between.