I’m wrapping up the list of acts on the Coachella 2009 lineup for next Saturday that I have some familiarity with. I had to take a photo of this backpack, worn by a member of DeVotchKa’s audience last year. It makes me ask, “Who would Jesus blog?”A couple of weeks ago we watched the [...]
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Coachella 2009: Saturday Wrap-up
SXSW 2009 Fantasy Saturday
What day is it really? My fourth wedding anniversary! 1:00 - 2:00 PM: Say Hi at SESAC Day Stage CaféDownload November Was White, December Was Grey at RCRDLBLMySpace | SXSW PagePhoto by alt-gramma: Eric Elbogen,Say Hi at the Glass House, 10-19-072:00 PM - 3:00 PM: Great Northern at SESAC Day Stage CaféDownload new [...]
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SXSW 2009 Fantasy Wednesday
Disclaimer: I do not know Austin, and this schedule does not take into account the distance between locations. This is a fantasy, after all! If you are going to be there in person, obviously, you’re going to have to make some painful choices and accept that you can’t see everyone because there [...]
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Handsome Furs: Zombie Love
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Does anyone besides myself and Alexei Perry (Dan’s wife and Handsome Furs bandmate) think Dan Boeckner is sexy? Sure, he’s as skinny and taut as one of his own guitar strings, but what attracts me is his intensity. We’ve seen that intensity at Wolf Parade concerts (September 2007 at the Glass House and [...]
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Finally Friday: Lotsa Luck
Welcome to some new sites on the blogroll that I can see are going to expand my musical horizons: The 405 features a mixture of music, film, and art reviews. Recent album reviews include The Boy Least Likely To’s The Law of the Playground and Bell Orchestre’s As Seen Through Windows.Side One Track [...]
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SXSW 2009 Sampler #5: More CA Bands
Like many of us here in the Golden State, some of these bands are originally from elsewhere. We don’t complain about it.When The Weather Underground lost gifted guitarist Sho Bagley, singer-songwriter Harley Prechtel-Cortez reformed the group as Red Cortez. Since the core of the new band remains the same, I have no doubt [...]
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Desert Noises
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Artist:Desert Noises
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Album:Desert Noises
I got a link by e-mail yesterday to this new video, produced by Drew Danbury, for the Desert Noises song, “New Man,” from their debut self-titled EP that was released at the end of January. I was immediately struck by the gorgeous production values in the sound of the guitars and vocals. I [...]
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The Beirut EPs
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Some of the criticism that I’ve seen about Zach Condon’s double-EP release, March of the Zapotec & Realpeople: Holland is that it is not up to par with Gulag Orkestar or Flying Club Cup. True, but remember this is not Beirut’s follow-up CD to those two albums. These EPs only reflect what happens [...]
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Contrast Podcast: Secrets!
I went to my first show of 2009 last night and first one since Aimee Mann's Christmas concert in December. I'll have more about that soon. Since going to shows involves an overnight stay in the big city, I'm actually writing this yesterday. Contrast Podcast #150 should be up sometime today, with a theme [...]
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Notes on the Grammys
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I can't get too outraged about Robert Plant and Alison Krauss winning the Grammy's Album of the Year (as well as several other categories) for Raising Sand (full list of winners here. It was a very good album, and Uncle T reported that they were even better live when he saw them at ACL [...]
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Favorites of 2008: the Should Haves, Vol 1
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There is always some amount of regret that occurs after publishing one's Favorites of the Year. My last few words about 2008 concern favorite songs from CDs I think I should have spent more time with-they might have wound up on the favorite albums list. It's just difficult to listen to everything that [...]
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NYE Party Mix
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If you're looking for party music for tonight, I have some great tunes here. I'm not always swooning over gentle, folky stuff like Shearwater, Fleet Foxes, and Liz Durrett. I also like remixes, electronica, and dance rhythms. Solid Gold, from my Top 10 CDs of 2008, is a giant clue. Gang [...]
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Favorite Songs of 2008, Vol 2
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Artist:Nick Cave
"Jesus of the Moon" by Nick Cave There is no denying the attraction in "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" from Uncle T's favorite albums that made it also one of my favorite songs. I liked "We Call Upon the Author" as well, but "Jesus of the Moon" was as big a favorite for me as "Lazarus." [...]
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Christmas Songs
First, public thanks to Pete Green for stopping by on Saturday's snow post. His song fit the theme perfectly! We're having nother rainy day with a forecast of more for Christmas eve, which puts a damp, chill factor on our pre-Christmas preparations. Here are a couple of holiday offerings from band friends to cheer [...]
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More from Uncle T on 2008
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CARDINOLOGY - Ryan Adams and the Cardinals Nice and pleasant sounding CD, but not nearly as good as last year's "Easy Tiger" on the song-writing side. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals: Natural Ghost Video: "Fix It" on David Letterman MySpace | Website | Label: Lost Highway Records | BUY Ryan Adams at Bridges Auditorium ATTACK AND RELEASE - The Black Keys Drum [...]
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Gramma’s More Top Albums of 2008
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Artist:THE SNOW MAGIC
Here are some more of the albums that were in consideration for my Top 10 and that I think were especially good in 2008. The first three here would probably all be tied for #11 if I were going to continue ranking. THE SNOW MAGIC - Dark Dark Dark This album winks at its morbid themes [...]
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Finally Friday: Christmas Mix 2
Don't forget to get your Peace On Earth Vol II Christmas charity compilation from Hard To Find a Friend blog. It looks like Caleb is doling out his best of the year one by one. Here are No. 2 and No. 3-whoa! A three-way tie? Hmmm. That would solve problems with my list. Rollo and Grady [...]
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Uncle T’s Top 10 of 2008
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My brother, the world-famous Uncle T, who often contributes to Speed of Dark, got his Top 10 of 2008 list together before I did, but I will have mine finished in a couple of days. We will also have more from Uncle T about albums that missed this list. 1. STAY POSITIVE - The Hold [...]
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Aimee Mann’s 3rd Annual Christmas Show
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If you are planning to see the Christmas show on Aimee's tour, there might be spoilers in this post. Check Aimee Mann's Website for dates and venues. This was no doubt our last concert for 2008. As we stood outside the beautiful art-deco Wiltern Theater Saturday night, me with my two cameras, one of the [...]
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