music blahs

with catfish's hiatus, i have to find new music on my own. well, i don't have to, but i'm taking this as an opportunity to go out and see bands i've never heard before. this is something i used to do all of the time... but somehow, after moving here i forgot about how much fun that can be. so let's go.

james jackson toth (of the wooden wandd) and the dutchess and the duke played the mohawk place. they were both great, but in different ways.

james jackson toth, pictured below, played solo with an electric guitar. he has this bluesy, country thing going on. he sings in a sultry way, kind of like greg dully, but less, dare i say, sleazy. i dig the sound.


i bought his new album. after my first listen this morning, i think it's really great, especially the first side of the first album. thanks again james for playing a good set and for giving me a deal on the vinyl. i really do owe you a loganberry shake or something.


as for the duchess and the duke, they were entertaining and melodic and all around a good time. maybe the show would have turned out differently if they hadn't been so inebriated, but who knows.

there were only around 20 people at the show, so it made for a real up close and personal time. they also had people in the audience singing and playing percussion with them. it was certainly an interesting experience.

diamond sea

definitely one of thurston's greatest songs... kind of epic in a way.

i want to say a lot today, but i'm feeling flustered and hyper-charged at the same time.

wonder where dradams is posting now... is it a tumblr-only party?

in the meantime, here is a pic of me in my favorite hipster cut-offs.

quite possibly the saddest movie i've ever seen

los amantes del circulo polar

untitled

i heard these two songs on the radio the other morning:
tunic (song for karen) by sonic youth
so. central station by REM

it was that kind of day. but it in between i heard some rocking 70s tune. i can't remember what it was. but it rocked and the lyrics were something about guys getting women. i think that was a mega-theme in 70s rock. and i had an idea of kim gordon + 70s rock... you know, transforming 70s rock by having a band that is comprised of tough women singing these silly 70s rock jams. okay, the first step is practicing on my argentinian acoustic beauty.

it's not like anyone is reading...

but hot damn, i was inspired by this:

here is why it is bothersome to make art with conviction... or to do anything with conviction

this makes me want to get up every morning and work on my dissertation for six hours straight and then spend the evenings learning how to play my silly little argentinian hand-me-down acoustic guitar and when i'm not doing that, i want to be designing the alpaca sweater that i have been trying to make for myself for a while now or writing poetry that i've been working on in my head...

we all have our own version of stage fright... or at least most of us do. i can relate so much to what ryan has to say recently, with this sort of re-birth that he has been going through (at least as he has been expressing it in his blog). i am inspired to sit and write down my own version of this... my own testimonial to myself about my convictions as an academic, as a linguist, as a woman, as a knitter, as a guitarist...

thanks ryan. i really appreciate you putting yourself out there. your vulnerability is amazing... it sparkles and mystifies me.

schuba dooba do

well, it's not 'skuba doooba do' it's more like 'shuba dooba do' (like 'shit' not 'skate'). i kept on pronouncing it like 'skate', but i guess because it's in chicago schuba's tavern is pronounced like the 'sh' sound in 'shit' or 'chicago'.

saw bobby bare jr. there last night - good show. i am a sucker for his tune 'i'll be around' and they did a great job on that one last night. i'm curious to see how his shel silverstein tribute album comes out.
the opening band was great, but i forgot their name. they were this rocking set of four guys from memphis, tennessee. i wonder if anyone out there saw them and remembers who they are????

go bears.