This is my last 4 days.
Date with Cat. Very good, but she was just so intellectual, and proper, I felt wrong about making any sort of move whatsoever. Haven't called back at all.
Date with Jenna. Some things were bugging me about her, then I took her out to a show which she talked through most of, and I got really annoyed. Not much talking that night, and I think that's done now.
Date with Rebecca. Absolutely beautiful girl. Very easy going, and a good conversationalist. I thought it went really well. I got a message today saying it was alright, but no spark. So... whatever. Dating sucks. Don't ever do it, kids.
SHOWS!!!!..... Empress was cool, Solars was AWESOME, Jeffrey Lewis on Kris' birthday lived up to insanely high expectations, Role Mach on friday were fantastic, and played an entire set of unrehearsed jamming, GR8-2000 and Boogie Monster both put on some of their best sets ever on saturday..... and the week in music was overall, incredible.
GR8-2000 - I feel I should expand on this. I don't believe I've talked about him, but GR8-2000 is a 19 year old genius of a musician who most people would compare to Dan Deacon, but really, he can do anything. He has a song in which he claims he'll never eat candy again, and throws candy at the audience. Another song called "Get Your Ass On The Floor", in which the only lyrics are the title yelled over and over. The sky is the limit for him.
Actually, my label is re-releasing his first album on cd-r in the next week or two, and on vinyl in the next few months. In case you forget, www.tweedeath.com
I can talk about Boogie Monster or Role Mach another time, though they're equally as deserving.
Showing posts with label Jeffrey Lewis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeffrey Lewis. Show all posts
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Pitchfork sucks a lot, and I'll tell you why
Jeffrey Lewis, if you read a couple posts back, is one of the best songwriters of this generation. That's just my opinion.
I think he's developed a lot as a songwriter. His first album had some great songs that took weird twists, but also had lyrics that should have been cut down a lot, as they tended to drag.
Each album has improved upon the one before it, with the exception of the new album "12 Crass Songs". That isn't to say the new album is bad, it's just kind of a side-step. Given that Jeffrey Lewis albums are mainly listened to for their lyrical content, clearly a covers album should be taken for what it is.
Pitchfork Media, in their infinite wisdom, waited until the album had already been out 4 months, to review it as a 2.3 out of 10.
It shouldn't shock me anymore, but I just wanted to point out what a bunch of fucking idiots run that site. The only reason I continue to go there, and probably always will, is that they review 5 albums per day. It is essentially a tool for finding out what new things to download. I've long since given up reading, or even checking the scores, of any of their reviews.
Eddie Argos, lead singer of Art Brut, claims that Jeffrey Lewis is one of his 5 favourite songwriters. John Peel thought enough of Lewis to give him a Peel Session. Still, Pitchfork won't buy into the hype. That is, if there were any hype to buy into. They create all "indie-centric" opinion to be re-hashed by all the people who say "music is my life", and STILL Jeffrey Lewis succeeds by putting out these great records.
It's just a fucking shame that all the suckers who still take P-fork seriously will never listen to a weird little album, that rests somewhere between interesting and great, because the almighty tastemaker has deemed it to be worthy of 2.3 imaginary units of goodness.
Here's a quote from the review:
"The formal disconnect between source and style actually sort of works once, on the anarchist manifesto "Big A Little A"... twelve songs is eleven too many, but that song, by itself, would've been a clever gesture."
They can't even pick the best song on the album.
I hope this whole "indie" craze dies sometime soon, and we can all go back to REAL corporations controlling our musical taste.
I think he's developed a lot as a songwriter. His first album had some great songs that took weird twists, but also had lyrics that should have been cut down a lot, as they tended to drag.
Each album has improved upon the one before it, with the exception of the new album "12 Crass Songs". That isn't to say the new album is bad, it's just kind of a side-step. Given that Jeffrey Lewis albums are mainly listened to for their lyrical content, clearly a covers album should be taken for what it is.
Pitchfork Media, in their infinite wisdom, waited until the album had already been out 4 months, to review it as a 2.3 out of 10.
It shouldn't shock me anymore, but I just wanted to point out what a bunch of fucking idiots run that site. The only reason I continue to go there, and probably always will, is that they review 5 albums per day. It is essentially a tool for finding out what new things to download. I've long since given up reading, or even checking the scores, of any of their reviews.
Eddie Argos, lead singer of Art Brut, claims that Jeffrey Lewis is one of his 5 favourite songwriters. John Peel thought enough of Lewis to give him a Peel Session. Still, Pitchfork won't buy into the hype. That is, if there were any hype to buy into. They create all "indie-centric" opinion to be re-hashed by all the people who say "music is my life", and STILL Jeffrey Lewis succeeds by putting out these great records.
It's just a fucking shame that all the suckers who still take P-fork seriously will never listen to a weird little album, that rests somewhere between interesting and great, because the almighty tastemaker has deemed it to be worthy of 2.3 imaginary units of goodness.
Here's a quote from the review:
"The formal disconnect between source and style actually sort of works once, on the anarchist manifesto "Big A Little A"... twelve songs is eleven too many, but that song, by itself, would've been a clever gesture."
They can't even pick the best song on the album.
I hope this whole "indie" craze dies sometime soon, and we can all go back to REAL corporations controlling our musical taste.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Jeffrey Lewis and a ridiculous friday night
I went to see The Mountain Goats with Jeffrey Lewis on friday. I'd already seen The Mountain Goats, which was awesome. But the real attraction was getting to see Jeffrey Lewis, as I've loved his albums from the start. I found him through a connection to Moldy Peaches, as he was a big part of the New York anti-folk scene.
Anyway, both in person, and on stage, Jeffrey Lewis is the real deal. I feel sort of the same way that I did when I first saw The Fiery Furnaces, in that this is a band who could do anything they wanted. In this case, they basically played a set of punk songs. In fact, they did a pretty poor job of selection from their 5 albums worth of material, and still blew a lot of people away. They even played one of the most annoying songs, "another girl", and turned it into one of the highlights of the show. Although anything with a chorus as awesome as this....
"Now I've found another girl,
and she's cuter and younger than you ever were.
She could kick your ass if you fucked with her.
And she's good in bed, and she calls me sir."
... is bound to slay an unsuspecting audience.
I was excited to see the Mountain Goats again, but 2 songs into the set, something in me snapped and I had an anxiety attack. I had to leave immediately, and went to find something to drink, to calm my nerves. I cracked the bottle while waiting for the train. I was immediately busted by the cops for drinking in public. $115 fine. Brutal.
Anyway, the kicker is that one of the triggers that probably set me off was seeing Dan Bejar (Destroyer, member of New Pornographers) show up after Jeffrey Lewis' set, walk directly backstage, and come back out with beers in his hands. It was pathetic. Clearly, he doesn't give a shit about music at this point. He's just showing up to shmooze. This is an artist that's produced some amazing material, including one of my all-time favourite songs "This Night." In fact, he's so prolific that I even referenced him in a previous blog post! But that's all over now. Fuck Dan Bejar.
Oh, and fuck the cops too. I peeled the label off, and went over to a corner to drink. They're just drumming up funds, I guess. But they could've at least let me keep the bottle I'd taken 3 swigs of.
Anyway, both in person, and on stage, Jeffrey Lewis is the real deal. I feel sort of the same way that I did when I first saw The Fiery Furnaces, in that this is a band who could do anything they wanted. In this case, they basically played a set of punk songs. In fact, they did a pretty poor job of selection from their 5 albums worth of material, and still blew a lot of people away. They even played one of the most annoying songs, "another girl", and turned it into one of the highlights of the show. Although anything with a chorus as awesome as this....
"Now I've found another girl,
and she's cuter and younger than you ever were.
She could kick your ass if you fucked with her.
And she's good in bed, and she calls me sir."
... is bound to slay an unsuspecting audience.
I was excited to see the Mountain Goats again, but 2 songs into the set, something in me snapped and I had an anxiety attack. I had to leave immediately, and went to find something to drink, to calm my nerves. I cracked the bottle while waiting for the train. I was immediately busted by the cops for drinking in public. $115 fine. Brutal.
Anyway, the kicker is that one of the triggers that probably set me off was seeing Dan Bejar (Destroyer, member of New Pornographers) show up after Jeffrey Lewis' set, walk directly backstage, and come back out with beers in his hands. It was pathetic. Clearly, he doesn't give a shit about music at this point. He's just showing up to shmooze. This is an artist that's produced some amazing material, including one of my all-time favourite songs "This Night." In fact, he's so prolific that I even referenced him in a previous blog post! But that's all over now. Fuck Dan Bejar.
Oh, and fuck the cops too. I peeled the label off, and went over to a corner to drink. They're just drumming up funds, I guess. But they could've at least let me keep the bottle I'd taken 3 swigs of.
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