better than prozac.

ryan adams - brilliant, but missing pyrotechnics

After all my hyperactive longing, I got to see Ryan Adams for the third time in a year. And this time, I was accompanied by Haley, who was sporting her pink CBGBs shirt for the occasion.

A longtime, fairly obsessed fan of Ryan Adams, I am always both excited scared to see him in concert, or meet him in person. I have heard amazing live performances over the years, thanks to the bootlegs available over the internet, but each time I have seen him personally, I have always been frustrated by the inconsistency of his performances (and the inconsistency of whether he will even appear, for that matter). His performances are often brilliant and tragic at the same time. The other night, we had brilliance. He never sang more beautifully, the band never sounded better. But unlike the Adams-esque brilliance Kerouac spoke of in terms of roman candles ("the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes “Awww!"), we got the brilliance of a flashlight: consistent but from a can.

I'm sure he'll find his way. And now, he'll probably be alive to show us.

Here and here are what some of the more professional reviewers thought....

seattle concert calendar

a surprisingly decent list from the Seattle P-I. So far, have made few commitments to the summer sched... I will do my best to hit the Georgetown Music Festival, as one of my faves, Earlimart will be there, and I'd love a lo-fi version of the Capitol Hill Block Party . . . I'm planning a picnic at Chateau Ste. Michelle with Chris Isaak and am seriously tempted by the Willie Nelson Fourth of July show at the Gorge, but my boy doesn't dig on the twang and I don't dig on seeing shows without him...

andrew bird concert

in a word...phenomenal.

andrew bird has to be the most talented musician i have ever seen perform. when you listen to his record, you assume that there is all kinds of production involved in allowing him to play 2 instruments (3 if you include the whistling) and sing. you would assume incorrectly, because his live show involves no less complexity than the recorded version. he's amazing as he effortly switches from playing his violin pizzacato, to employing the bow, while whistling, then to guitar and singing, in each song. somehow in all of that, he manages to loop the sound so he can play along with himself. his performance was masterful, flawless and wholly entertaining. i was completely captivated, despite the beyond capacity-filled room at chop suey (many of whom were taking advantage of the 'all ages' nature of the show, unfortunately ).

the cherry on top was the gorgeous aaron horkey designed poster we acquired, a live disc as well as a super-cute tee-shirt with a wind up bird .

i'm a wound-up bird fan. i can't wait to see him again.

andrew bird sends me soaring

i am very excited about the andrew bird show tonight at chop suey, despite having to wake up at 5:30 a.m. to be at the office for a 7:00 a.m. call to london.

there is something other-worldly about bird's music. it defies genre, its mood is all over the place and his lyrics are bewitching.

My dewy-eyed bride what has tried / swapping your blood with formaldehyde? / Monsters? / Whiskey-plied voices cried fratricide! / Jesus don't you know that you coulda died / with the monsters what talk / monsters what walk the earth / she's got red lipstick / and a bright pair of shoes / knee high socks / what to cover a bruise / she's got an old death kit / she's been meaning to use / blood in her eyes in her eyes for you / she's got blood in her eyes for you / certain fads, stripes and plaids singles ads / run you hot and cold like a rheostat I mean a thermostat / so you bite on a towel / hope it won't hurt too bad / she says I like long walks and sci-fi movies / you're six foot tall and east coast bred / some lonely night we can get together / and I'm gonna tie your wrists with leather / and drill a tiny hole into your head

and there's his whistling. i'm not sure if there is a such thing as a classically trained whistler, or a professional whistler, but whatever the case may be, andrew bird is it. it's clear, beautiful, and a listener might mistake it for someone playing a saw. his other primary instrument is the violin, but he also plays guitar and piano.

his "andrew bird and the mysterious production of eggs" is one of my favorite records of all time.

ryan adams - demolition

i swooned slightly as i walked past the tour bus parked outside of the moore, where ryan adams was scheduled to perform in a few hours. although a modest line had begun at 5:00 (doors at 7), there was no way i was getting a very hungry jason to sit around for 2 hours waiting (if left to my own devices, i would've been first in line, reading a book or something to pass the time). but, even after a fabulous sushi dinner at ohana, we still managed to have great seats at the show.

the show was not everything i had hoped it would be, but it was certainly not worse than food poisoning, as reported by the otherwise-reliable seattlest . the show started out with promise - jesse malin was solid and charming as usual. ryan took the stage in a timely manner (unlike previous performances, where the audience was forced to wait 90 minutes for him to take the stage), and when he started singing, i was certain that this was going to be a phenomenal show. he played a beautiful rendition of "amy" and "please do not let me go" from love is hell, my favorite. he was self-deprecating, funny and affable, joking about his previous cancellations and chain smoking, despite the citywide ban.  at his side were a piano, two guitars, a bottle of pinot and  a glass of scotch, the latter of which would be the undoing of the show, as ryan became increasingly inebriated (he was stoned when he took the stage), forgetting songs (even "la cienega just smiled," a classic, much-loved song that he must've sang hundreds of times), starting and stopping to find his place in the lyrics or to get the chords right, losing his set list, ashtrays (one of which is built into his microphone), muttering incoherently to himself like the homeless guy who hangs out at the starbucks near my office, and yes, at one point, blowing his nose farmer-style. not attractive.

it was disappointing because it could have been a transcendent show. I just wish he'd get some help and give up on insisting that being drunk is part of his persona. it's not cute, it's not appealing and it could ruin his career. it's a disservice to his fans and himself.

but i still love him.

october-decemberists romance

i love the decemberists, and i fell in love with them all over again on friday night at the showbox. no, no, no, this is not a crush like my well-documented obsession with ryan adams; and i will not be dreaming about colin meloy anytime soon (he is cute, though, in a nerdy, sensitive artist way), but this band is perhaps the most engaging troupe i have ever seen. i use 'troupe' because there is a circus-like energy about their stage shows, which sometimes bear more resemblance to a klezmer band than a rock band. meloy's songwriting is ingenious - he is a wildly imaginative storyteller who uses clever language that  give his songs a timeless, otherworldly quality. the decemberists' world is one of adventure, of romance and of colorful characters; the kind of escapist world you may have imagined as a child reading 'peter pan' or huck finn or while being regaled of tales of gypsies and other outcasts.

the performance was energetic, nearly flawless and included meloy jumping into the crowd as well as the singer from the long winters stripping down to his undies on stage. didn't i say it was a circus?

japanese+noise = boris

if  boris were a sushi roll, it would require the hardened exterior of salmon skin, with the soft,  slightly menacing texture and strong taste of sea urchin and the physical sensation of explosive flying fish roe. you would need to eat this roll slowly, like boris' tempo, and to properly  savor its textures.

if i were to factor the audience of this show in, i would have to say it was two-day-old sushi, as i have never before encountered so much unkempt, long, dirty hair in my entire life.

but that would be a digression. although i would not listen to boris at home, the experience of live noise core is something to behold. amazing musicianship. insanely creative use of reverb,  the sensation of which on the body was literally moving. dark, mysterious, beautiful and fucking loud.

UPDATE: allmusic calls their music sludge/doom metal. i really don't know what that means, but for accuracy's sake...

retribution gospel choir @ crocodile

so, I am really stoked about what is being billed the retribution gospel choir - a side project of mark kozelek (sun kil moon & red house painters) and alan spearhawk (low), who are coming to seattle for what I am going to consider an early birthday gift! in what will likely  be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, these two will be playing several gigs across the country, for y'all (too far) afield from seattle. From pitchfork:

Word on the street is that the Choir is a full-blown rock band. Considering both Low's notorious 1998 turn as a Misfits tribute band and Kozelek's AC/DC fixation, should we expect nightly axe battles, complete with whammy-bar histrionics, flurries of tapping and hammer-ons, and a war-chest of effects pedals? Yes. Maybe. In the press release for the fall tour, Sparhawk spells out the deal: "Mark and I have known each other for a while and we both have a secret love for classic rock and a penchant for playing guitar solos. I've always come away from any collaboration excited and invigorated. When Low worked with the Dirty Three, it was one of the most fulfilling things we have ever done. And really, musicians used to do this kind of thing all the time-- it was a way to inspire each other. I think it's something that still needs to be in music now and that you don't have to make a record to back up and validate the music that you are playing. I mean, Chaka Khan and Gladys Knight are touring together right now-- isn't that the same thing?"

it's hard to be a ryan adams fan

i just received a ticketmaster alert that the ryan adams concert scheduled for a few hours from now has been canceled "due to illness." based on accounts from recent reviews and posts to bulletin boards, would appear to be drug addiction (see my post, "that crazy ryan adams").  apparently, he was completely incoherent last night in vancouver, and has decided at the eleventh hour to cancel the show tonight. i'm disappointed, to say the least, but this seems to be the fate of many ryan adams fans. so i've been listening to his music all day in anticipation, but now i feel like i am preparing for his funeral instead.

UPDATE: Rumor is his band quit.

oh why, oh why,must they . . .

..invite these horrible "festival acts" to kill what could be a killer festival? for once, i have to agree with those bratty, too-hip-for everyone writers at pitchfork when they report on yet another ginormous music fete, vegoose.  halloween in vegas with - bestill my beating heart - ryan adams with phil lesh, the decemberists, the shins, the flaming lips, the arcade fire,  spoon, trey anastasio (who is actually very enjoyable sans phish) the meters...(!) but in comes the  usavory acts (and their fans) the string cheese incident, widespread (hepatitis b) panic and the dave matthews band, who already shat all over chicago . . .

when will they learn? if only more festivals could be like sasquatch.