David Gray, Conor Oberst, and RYAN ADAMS at CSUN last night...

Adrienne surprised me with her Christmas Date yesterday (we do dates instead of gifts). It started at Dr. Hogly Wogly's Tyler Texas BBQ, which honestly was so damn good that I would have been stoked already. Then we went to see David Gray, Conor Oberst, and Ryan Adams at CSUN. It was awesome to show her the music building and the MT room (unlocked, of course) where I spent those 'other' two years of grad. school...The venue is absolutely stunning and it was a real thrill to finally go inside it after all of those hours I've spent reading and studying near the fountain and in the trees out front and all the performances were great. I was really excited to see Conor solo because I've only seen him with MOF at the Greek (Insano Show, too). He played a couple of his 'classics' and ended with a kick ass John Prine cover...but... Ryan just outperformed both of them hands down. Very cool to see him with a full band after the amazing shows in Big Sur and at Disney Hall a few years ago. The reworked songs in electric form were done really well (Dirty Rain, Dear Chicago) and the setlist was a nice mix of "hits" and the last two records, of which I prefer Ashes and Fire, but the new one keeps growing on me with it's 80s sensibilities. He did his nice cover of "She's Not Me," by Jenny Lewis, which springs from him producing her record and continuing to play some dates with her including tomorrow night in SF. The performance of "Magnolia Mountain," (see above video if you aren't familiar with this tune) was quite exceptional. This is an old video, but it's still got mainly the same vibe with the Cardinals. I would argue that the backups were superior last night and that the spacey instrumental section (which makes this a Furthur favorite) was more compelling, but the track stands alone since it's release on Cold Roses back in '05. The full setlist was:Gimme Something Good, Let it Ride, Stay With Me, Dirty Rain, Magnolia Mountain, Dear Chicago, Lucky Now (solo acoustic), She's Not Me, When the Stars go Blue, Sweet Carolina, La Cienega just Smiled, I Love you, but I don't know what to Say, Come Pick Me Up. Thank you babe for the amazing date night and Christmas gift. You have really set the bar high for me this year. I love you and I don't know what to say ;)

Tom Waits new Record "Bad as Me," Out 10/24 Two Singles Released from Anti

So......It turns out that it's true. Waits has a new record coming out on Anti and judging by the two singles already released it seems as though it's going to get the usual reaction. The hard core fan base will go ape s**t, "New record of all original material! First in 7 years!" Meanwhile, "Bad as Me", the title track, which seems most closely related to "Phillipino Box Spring Hog" (Cool Story, Uncompelling Track) is the first single released and will make it easy for the critics and haters to say that this new release is just more of the same old Waits: "Cliche, deranged caricature of his former jazzbo self," etc., etc., you know the lines. Waits is one of those characters in popular culture that evokes such a wide range of strange commentary. From intellectuals attempting to show off their personal knowledge of brake drums and piano strings whipped against dumpsters to rock classicists who haven't changed their opinions on the guy since 1972. Sure, he loves to feed this fire and fights to control his ridiculous fabled persona by attempting to keep it that way via any means necessary including not authorizing biographies or even interviews these days, but critics write about him like he's John Cage. They just don't know what the f**k is going on. Personally, I'm way more in to this here ballad, "Back in the Crowd", than "Bad as Me" at this time, but the other little snippets that fly out of the vintage stereo equipment and the ratty old car in the "Private Listening Party" video, which included something that sounded like a new rockabilly track reminiscent of "Lie to Me," have me ready to fork over some dough for a hard copy and maybe even the LP.

180-Gram Vinyl Re-Release of AeroPlane, Avery Island Available 11/3...

Merge is about to re-release In the Aeroplane over the Sea and On Avery Island on 180-Gram Vinyl for all of the Neutral Milk freaks out there. This band is hauntingly weird and great. After reading the chapter on the group in Merge’s “Our Noise” I am tempted to scrap writing this entry...

Jeff Magnum was completely unknown to me last week. To the scores of blog freak indie-music junkies out there this is undoubtedly blasphemy to admit, but its true. My roommate is a bit of an indie music encyclopedia compared to me and he left this book on our living room table the other day. Our Noise: “The Story of Merge Records...The Indie Label that got big and stayed small.” To be honest the only things that I knew about in this book were Ryan Adams, who wrote the introduction, and Arcade Fire, who fill the last chapter. I had heard some Superchunk on the Drunkard and other music blogs and thought the tracks were great, but never pursued them further. To be further honest, I really don’t know jack about either of the other two acts either-other than the fact that my friend Elliott Randal (great bay area singer/songwriter currently touring) loves Ryan Adams, and that Adams toured with Phil Lesh and was a drunken mess who didn’t care about fame or showing up to the gig!! and that he supposedly openly hates one of my favorite singer/songwriters, Jeff Tweedy. I also have heard about five of his songs, which apparently is exactly one percent of the songs he churns out per year. I did like them, though, wide range of styles with a fair amount of my dear country-roots-rock-alt.-whatever you want to call it, and I could care less if he hates Jeff Tweedy because good music is good music and Adams sounds like a working class rock and roller through and through from the sources I’ve talked to. Arcade Fire, eh....I’d heard the name and graded some reports on them, but couldn’t tell you anything about them.
So...I read the intro by Adams and was immediately thrown into the world of Merge. I wanted to know more!! I wanted to find a 7” at my local record store and I did. I wanted to have been there from the start, but it was impossible. So...I excitedly asked my roommate, Jonny Boy, who writes a damn good tune himself, about Merge and who else got to have that label on their records. He shoots a sly sideways glance and hands me In the Aeroplane over the Sea. For me, the album is great right away. Simple I-IV-V harmonies put together with a harmonic rhythm that make them sound new for an instant. The vocals seemed a little strange to me the first time through, but the lyrics were instantly spellbinding. I found myself scanning back... What did he just say? Forks and pianos filled with flames? Does this make sense or is it just poetically confusing enough to make you listen. The second time through I was reading the lyrics as they were half belted, half sung, half yelled (YEAH, THERE’S 3 HALVES). This is a good record (Understatement). One of those records that I know many people wouldn’t get if I gave it to them. It would be like trying to tell people who have never listened to Tom Waits how great Rain Dogs is. That it is a desert island record that I can’t live without. Trust me, I try all the time and watch their faces drop when I press play. They to sit through it and sink back into their crap first-impression records that flash by faster than Usain Bolt with a rocket up his keister. Polished up turds with “this second” styled characters on the cover designed to hit the top and disappear. And they always succeed. Meanwhile...
Aeroplane is a record that one has to want to discover. At least on some level. You have to decide for yourself if it is crap or brilliance. I’ve made my decision and I’ve bought On Avery Island and I think it is damn good, too. I listened to it while I read the Neutral Milk Article in the Merge book, which I also highly recommend. The chapter on this band alone is worth the cover price. These guys meant it when they said they were wearied by the lure of the real world and the business of music. The last line of the chapter is a small quote from Magnum’s email reply to an inquiry about interviewing for the book, which he humbly and graciously denied. The email ends: “It gladdens me to see that it’s the human labels like Merge who are fully alive in this moment, while the giants of the music industry are all eating shit. May it forever be so.” The two full length LPS on Merge are so rough and raw yet ordered and cohesive, too. I pre-ordered Aeroplane on vinyl and will forever search my record stores for more 7” presses from the early days of Merge. I would kill to be on this label.