Lead singer of Neutral Milk Hotel performed Sunday night in Columbus, OH

The fine, fine folks over at i guess i’m floating are reporting the legendarily reclusive Neutral Milk Hotel frontman Jeff Mangum played for a crowd at the Elephant 6 show Sunday night in Columbus, OH

http://iguessimfloating.blogspot.com/2008/10/video-jeff-mangum-engine-live-102008.html

Some of you are aware that Apples In Stereo frontman Robert Schneider, a fellow resident of Lexington, KY and co-founder of Elephant 6 Recording Company with Mangum, has embarked on a brief tour called the Elephant 6 Orchestra presents: “Holiday Surprise”. Naturally, one would hope to see Mangum join the extensive orchestra (surprise!) and (so far) it looks like he has. I’m not sure what his role is within the show, which artist is playing what, or how all of the Elephant 6 musicians are performing but I’ll be sure to find out soon; luckily, the final tour date for the tour is this Thursday in Lexington at The Red Mile and it’s for FREE! You can bet I’ll be there getting the scoop, but until then you can watch Mangum performing “Engine” last night in Columbus, OH. He’s still lurking in the shadows but that doesn’t seem to matter when it sounds oh, so good.

Tour ending grand finale of a full length NMH concert in Lexington, anyone? I’d hope so!

Jeff Mangum-XFM Radio Session May 1998 Engine

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Can we discuss the band Shearwater?

I’m completely on the fence regarding the Austin, TX band Shearwater. Maybe I just need some like-minded junkies’ opinions on the matter. While I find the haunting, reflecting music of Jonathan Meiburg to be brilliant and hypnotic, I can’t say that I’m in love with the vocals. In the last year or so, my eyes and ears have run across countless industry people who fawn over this group, and I’ve tried so hard, keeping an open yet judgmental mind. I’m just not falling in love like I expected. I mean, I’ve fallen for Okkervil River (that was an easy sell) and since Shearwater is directly descended from the band, I expected an easy sell as well.
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09 – Shearwater – The Snow Leopard.mp3 from ‘Rook’

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02 – Shearwater – Rooks.mp3 from ‘Rook’

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05 – Seventy-Four, Seventy-Five.mp3 from ‘Palo Santo’

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06 – All The Pretty Horses.mp3 from ‘Sham Wedding/Hoax Funeral’

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10 – Hail, Mary.mp3 from ‘Palo Santo’
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Tell me what you think?? Positive, negative…..hey, I’m an optimist (really?…no way) so sell me either way. ideally, the reason I am still on the fence is because I like them….mostly.

Underground/DIY artists use their voice in support of Obama for President

This is an excerpt from the noiseforobama.org homepage. Please follow the (large) link in the center of your screen to check out many more artist testimonials and consider leaving your experiences on their contribution page.
- Jameson

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Those of us in the underground/DIY arts community
need to consider what is important for the
future of the US
just as much as any other citizen.

A climate of tolerance, a strong economy, and a world that inspires us to do
greater things are all things that make it easier to be a noise artist.
A vote for Barack Obama will encourage these things. This website collects statements
from different noise artists, noise rockers,underground show promoters,
DIY label heads, mom and pop record shop owners, and
underground music fans about why they are voting for Barack Obama this
November. If you have not decided about voting yet,
please read through these statements and consider if you agree
that voting for Obama will help the community
and this music and art you love. If you have decided to
vote for Obama, and
would like to share your thoughts,
please visit our contribution page.

NoiseForObama.org

“Political non-participation in my social sphere often stems from not wanting to
‘play the game.’ But I’m pretty sure that if you are standing in a city,
driving a car down a public road, emailing whoever for whatever, or
eating food not grown within walking distance (and even then) you ARE
playing the game.

“Earth (and beyond) is the board, and it needs your
help to stay a cool place to play. Your town, the country, the entire
planet is interconnected now more than ever. We share resources across
the globe and we need to participate in our little corner to hold the
whole puzzle together. It would probably take me about half a day to
walk to Boston or half a day to fly to China. One big neighborhood. I
vote in all my local and national elections, and though it won’t solve
my every problem, it might effect something. It might mean more money
for science, or a more flexible, inspired educational system. It might
mean marriage rights for all or government incentives for new energy
research. Sure it’s a “maybe”, but it’s an easy one to reach for.
Picture a huge heavy ball with hundreds of people trying to push it, add
your little bit of weight and at that moment it may give, the ball is
rolling. Four years ago Lightning Bolt was in on tour in Europe right
before the election watching the debates when we could, I specifically
remember watching Edwards debate Cheney. Cheney, his pals probably
seizing contracts to rebuild Iraq already. What a scheme they had, blow
a country up and get everyone to pay you to put it back together. At
this point I wouldn’t be surprised if Bush had an adviser with a bodybag
company. These people are my representatives? Touring in Europe and
apologizing to everyone for being from the USA. My country, a country
that invades sovereign nations. A country that from the rest of the
world’s perspective is a thuggish bully with the capacity to nuke the
planet to atoms.

My eyes welled up with tears listening to Obama speak at the DNC, finally a
person who I can be proud of, a figurehead who respects intelligence and
speaks with intelligence. Politicians constantly promise this that and
the other thing so I listen between the lines, trying to judge if this
person has the ability to reason, learn, listen and empathize and has a
humanitarian perspective. But of course while a president needs first
and foremost to be able to filter information they don’t work in a void,
they have a wealth of experience around them. Hillary will be there
with all her fire and knowledge; McCain (for better or worse) will be
there with his military experience. Biden will be there with his grip on
foreign policy, Kucinich will be there with his vision of peace, but
Obama will tie it together and make the mature decisions to put us on
the path towards reason and renewal.

And on top of that I love voting. Providence always moves my spot around. Me being in
a not so wealthy area, they are probably trying to shake us off the
trail. So I’ll wander into whatever school gym or apartment complex
lobby I’m assigned too and say “chippendale” and the volunteers will all
giggle and I’ll make a joke about my rich stripper uncle or something
like that. Then I’ll vote, we will all smile and I’ll get my “I voted”
sticker and walk out happy that I shared a moment with a few new people
from some other walk of life. All of us participating in this grand
democratic experiment. “


- Brian Chippendale (Lightning Bolt, Black Pus) 8/30/2008
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Obama is good for us. i don’t know if i can speak for this whole country or the whole world, but his views on foreign policy,his views on health care, his views on abortion and so on are right where we think things need to be. The last few elections have been real tough, we were so excited to nominate Gore, then again with Kerry, but in the real scheme of things we were choosing the lesser of two evils. Obama is a real human, and we believe in him and his decisions for the better of our country. The human country. Please vote

- No age 9/10/08

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“Every time I tour the US playing music there is at least
one long drive where I realize how lucky I am to live in
a country where I can do this. Somehow, with almost no income to speak of I am
able to do what I want with my
life. It is never easy, but it is awesome that I can make art the way I want to
and share it with people all over the place
just by working hard at it. If America continues to have stupid presidents like
George Bush though, my hard work
alone might not be enough any more. I am voting for Obama because I believe he
will help keep the US a place
where DIY artists like my friends and I can afford to get by, can afford the
energy it takes to tour, and aren’t surrounded
by hateful people that don’t support our true freedom. I know, with hard how it
is to be an artist, that apathy over voting is easy
to have. But if Obama is not elected president, it will become more than hard to
be an artist. It will become near impossible as
the Republican party continues to insist on the use of oil, making the cost of
living go up and the attitude of society more mean
and bitter. If you enjoy noise music and all the other DIY arts please vote for
Obama.”

- Brian Miller (Foot Village/Deathbomb Arc) 8/29/2008

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Lightning Bolt @ MySpace
Noage @ MySpace

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Mr. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, 9/7/08 Boston, Mass

The third part of my most amazing musical weekend ended on Sunday night with a concert by everybody’s favorite basket-case, David Ryan Adams. And while it’s true that I’m a huge fan, the events that took place under the Bank of America Pavilion’s space-tent the other night were just other-worldly.

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals 9/7/2008

[Really easy to download in 3 parts, and it works BITCHIN with DownThemAll]

1. http://drop.io/q7yi5ho

2. http://drop.io/vgo3esz

3. http://drop.io/i0wmcew

Or Click to play along….

setlist

The Back Story

My fiance, Jess, and I left Philly around noon. We had spent a quick weekend visiting my sister and, with her, we saw My Morning Jacket on Friday night, and were surprised into seeing Ben Folds with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra on Saturday night. After sleeping in on Sunday morning, grabbing a few cups of sister’s excellently strong chocolaty coffee, and saying our goodbyes, we were on the road.

Sorry Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts: we left you in the dust.

We rolled into Beantown after picking up a couple of friends, Anna and Jeff, and proceeded to drive around in circles while the GPS not-so-politely informed us that it’s a piece-o-fucking-shit. We found our venue the old fashioned way (thank you very much…), paid 35 bucks for someone to put a little ticket on our dashboard, and hit the venue. As with MMJ on Friday, when we walked into the venue, the band took the stage.

The Show

The BoA Pavilion is a completely laid back venue! I’d see a show there anytime! Good seats everywhere, cafe style table in the back if you just want to chill, nice restrooms, smallish capacity of 5,000 people, huge white circus-style tent, big beers, nice staff, video screens, room to spread out if you just wanna dance.

Ryan and company took the stage and quietly went straight to business, starting the set with “Off Broadway”, but not the track from Easy Tiger, no. And not much like it’s predecessor on the hodgepodge bootleg Suicide Handbook, either. This had flavor. It had aggression. It had purpose. It was epic. And it was going to be a sign of things to come.

The first set had Ryan and Neal Casal in business mode. Bartering Lines, the classic off of heartbreaker, was nothing short of haunting and powerful. Goodnight Rose, Everybody Knows, and Two from Easy Tiger. Three new songs, and a handful of perfect songs from the back catalog. The highlight had to be, for me, Come Pick Me Up, which Ryan had to regress back into the comfort of his therapist’s chair before he could belt it out.

“Some of this stuff is a little emotional and trying for me today…..(it’s ok)…..this one especially….let’s just get through this one…(ok, ok )…Ryan, you’re not crazy, you’re just spoiled, and…(sigh) ok……”

and then he nailed it.

The second set picked up where the first let off. Except the band took off from the stratosphere, puncturing the roof-canopy and joining the skyline of the city lights above. The set trancended time, and left the ground quickly with Let It Ride, Games, Cold Roses, and A Kiss Before I Go, before a powerful 1,2,3 punch of Peaceful Valley, Dear John, and a spine-shivering Shakedown on 9th Street.

We’re in the fourth dimension….

And after the debut performance of Sinking Ships and The Color of Pain, the band returned with a solid Beuatiful Sorta, and, one of the finest show closers I’ve seen in a long time, a loud, chilling version of I See Monsters.

Two and a half hours. It could have gone another 2 1/2. Tight, concise, on point. This was Ryan in control. I can’t wait to see where he’s going to take this show. I’m hoping, no praying, for another trip back to Boston this winter. We’d love to have him….I know I would.

ryan adams 2008-09-07 Come Pick Me Up.mp3

ryan adams 2008-09-07 Shakedown on 9th Street.mp3

ryan adams 2008-09-07 I See Monsters.mp3

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Today is a Big Star kinda day

I wrote a long, beautiful fucking post about Big Star and I fucking hit paste instead of copy at some point and destroyed the whole fucking thing.  So what I’m left with is exhaustion, and some kick-ass links. 

What I was trying to say was that up until a year ago, I had no idea that Big Star carried the influence that they do.  They didn’t just put out a couple of masterpiece albums while facing utter commercial failure only to become hugely popular in the late 80′s-early 90′s alt-rock scene…..they WERE the late 80′s-early 90′s alt-rock scene, in 1972.  So here’s to them, and here’s to a post that’s floating around in the cache of my computer somewhere.   I’m gonna have a beer tonight, at pub trivia, for Big Star.

Big Star – 16 Kanga Roo.mp3

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Jeff Buckley – 08 Kanga-Roo.MP3

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Big Star – 12 September Gurls.mp3

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Of Montreal – 02 September gurls.mp3

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Big Star – 14 O, Dana.mp3

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Okkervil River 03 o, dana [big star].mp3

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Big Star – 04 Thirteen.mp3

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elliott smith – 12 – thirteen.mp3

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Wilco – Thirteen.mp3

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My Friday Evening Jacket pt. 1

So here I am. Monday night. Not quite fully recovered from this weekend of weekends, but loving every minute of it. This entry will be “part 1″. Ben Folds and Ryan Adams to follow.

My fiance, Jess, and I finally got around to planning a trip from Providence to Philly, to visit my kid sister. Of course, being the music junkie that I am, I built the weekend trip around some pretty good music. My Morning Jacket were playing at Festival Pier Friday night, so, sensing my desire to go, my sister bought 3 tickets for my birthday. We all got to go. Let me tell you….She, my friends, is awesome. Best present ever. Getting to the show, well….another situation altogether. Oh and another awesome thing about the show was that I was gonna get to share it with the legendary LizzieGreenEyes.

Left Providence on Friday at noon, and arrived in North Wales, PA at 6:30. We had just enough time to say hi to my sister and take a look at her new condo, before we were out the door and on the road once again, for the drive into Philly. And it became immediately clear that traffic wasn’t gonna be very kind. It took about an hour for us to get to the venue. We found a great parking spot, however, and at 7:45……..we walked into the venue as MMJ were walking on stage for a set that would last for nearly 3 hours.

Moggers know where to find each other….and Lizzie let it be known that she and Deb were camping out by the shortest beer line. Of course, I found them before the first tune was even over! And let me tell you, there’s no better remedy for road-weary bones than to dance off the cobwebs with Lizzie, a couple of Miller Lites and Jim James’ unreal growl . Three hours of bliss. Even a little bit of T.S. Hanna couldn’t put a damper on the 4,500 people gathered to witness one of the most electric and energetic of indie rock bands of all time. And all the talk about Moggers, beers, bands, and…of course…The Swell Season got me in just the right mood for some afterbeers at Johnny Brenda’s, the perfect dive bar for a fella in a grateful dead shirt and a gal in a Vote Green T! And I will admit, Lizzie, that guitarist is the male equivalent of Jenny Lewis. He’s pretty damn hot…I’ll give you that. And he plays sax. Damn. That’s what gets the ladies….

My Morning Jacket – 9/05/08 Festival Pier, Philly, PA FM Soundboard

3 separate dl’s (works easily with downthemall)

http://drop.io/njpdcz7
http://drop.io/5xx8xgj
http://drop.io/lt1bo2q

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