MOG - miguel noir's Posts

Check out Noir Radio from Play.It

miguel noir — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:52 GMT

I created and published this free streaming radio station via http://www.play.it and you can too...Sure it's got a few ads, but it's worth the price of admission and the using the visual artist tool to create your station is addictive. Check it ou.

Full disclosure: I also work for CBS, but this is too cool not to share with you...

MayLake plays benefit Friday night @ Make Out Room in SF

miguel noir — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 18:14:17 GMT

Make-Out Room 3225 22nd Street, San Francisco, CA When: Friday, April 20, 8:30pm sharp

We had so much fun with all of you the last time we played that it was easy to say yes when we were invited to perform at the Make-Out Room as part of the Green Apple Music Festival, the world's largest Earth Day music celebration. http://www.greenapplemusicfestival.com

We've got a slew of new songs and we'll be donating our net proceeds from your attendance to Environmental Defense http://www.environmentaldefense.org so make sure to mention that you're there to hear MayLake

We sold out the Make Out Room last time we played so come early and join us for a night on the town while we make some ambient pop to help protect our planet. We're looking forward to seeing all of you peaceful kind rainbow brothers and sisters. MayLake loves you! http://www.myspace.com/maylake

What's your take on Pandora.com

miguel noir — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 11:36:25 GMT

I've know a couple of people who work at Pandora and my drummer is doing a mural project for them right now. I like the fact that they stream music for free, but would never use their site if this funtionality were part of MOG. Imagine MOG streaming full songs in sequence based on user generated tastes? What a beautiful world it would be!

Headliner needed for a bill...

miguel noir — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 05:19:54 GMT

We're looking for a headliner to join a bill with us at San Francisco's Cafe Du Nord in March. Any suggestions?

May Lake sells out the Make Out Room

miguel noir — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 20:02:01 GMT

Thanks to eveyone who attended last nights May Lake show at the Make Out Room. While we may not have broken the world record for a group make out, we did sell out the room! It was so packed that Mr.Mog himself almost got shut out. Imagine that?! Dave getting shut out of a show? Impossible. He had to call Aviva Noir inside the club to get him in. My only hope is that you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did. Here are a couple of shots and a taste of the music.

May Lake loves you!

Miguel Noir

MayLake performs on Saturday night

miguel noir — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 00:44:44 GMT

For those San Francisco Bay Area Moggers, I wanted to remind you of May Lake's performance this Saturday night at 8pm at the Make Out Room in SF. We can't break the world's record for simultaneous making out if you don't attend so the importance of your presence should not be diminished. The club is located at 3225 22nd St between Mission and Valencia. BART has a stop at 24th and Mission so you'd only be two blocks away or you can park at the inexpensive garage located on 21st St. Traffic getting into the city will be challenging as throngs are expected to attend so leave early. We look forward to seeing you there.

MayLake loves you!

Rock Memorabilia You Own?

miguel noir — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 17:57:54 GMT

Many years ago, while living in Vermont, I bought a homemade speaker cabinet with two 12" EV speakers inside, some chicken wire on the back and filled with home insulation. I bought it for $150 from Paul Brill http://mog.com/Paul_Brill who bought it from Trey "Ernest" Anastasio. This is the first speaker cab that Paul Languedoc (SP?) built it for him and he used it for many years. I'm not sure why Trey sold it to Paul, but Trey tried to buy it back from me about 10 years ago, but I didn't sell it back to him as I was using it and still play through it today becuase it sounds as good now as it did 15 years ago. By the way, Phish lost me in like 1989 after hearing Nirvana and Jane's. Do you think there's some really rich Phishhead out there who wants to help me reitre? Do you Moggers own any cool Rock and Roll memorabilia?

May Lake performs benefit show Dec.8th

miguel noir — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 04:42:32 GMT

Please join May Lake and very special guest, author Joshua Braff, for an evening of music and literary delight on Friday Dec.8th at the intimate Mama Buzz Cafe in Oakland's underground Temescal art district, at 2318 Telegraph @ 23rd St. This event, benefits Family House at Children's Hospital Oakland, and commences at 7:30pm. A $5 donation is suggested, but of course you should feel free to give what you can. We hope you can join us!

About May Lake: Local artists and brothers, Miguel and Pedro Noir create memorable songs of heavy electro melodic ambient acousticpsychedlic pop Americana slowcore with tonal influences ranging from Oakland, New York, Bristol, Sao Paulo, Mississippi, Mali, and Liverpool. Please come swim in May Lake! FREE downloads at http://www.myspace.com/maylake

About Joshua Braff: Joshua Braff's first novel The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green was nominated for a 2005 Quill Award and made the San Francisco Chronicle Best Seller List. It was also one of Booklist's top ten first novels for 2004. He lives in Oakland where he's currently finishing his second novel. For more info on Joshua visit http://www.myspace.com/joshuabraff

About Mama Buzz Cafe: Nurturing our community, Mama Buzz is a café, gallery and gathering place for artists, creators and their communities. Mama Buzz is conveniently located 2318 Telegraph @ 23rd St in Oakland only blocks away from BART and freeway entrances. http://www.mamabuzzcafe.com/index.php

About Family House: Family House at Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland is a home away from home for eligible families whose children are being treated at the hospital. There are 16 bedrooms available to qualifying families living 70 miles or more from the hospital. http://childrenshospitaloakland.org/child_stay/FamilyHouseat_YourChildsHospitalStay.asp

ARTIST MOGGER PAUL BRILL PERFORMING IN SF

miguel noir — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 18:14:52 GMT

Come hear NYC artist and mogger Paul Brill perfrom at the Make-Out Room in SF this Sunday night 11/12 at 8pm. http://www.makeoutroom.com

http://www.mog.com/Paul_Brill

The ultratalented Michael Zapruder will also perform. http://www.michaelzapruder.com

Michael has a unique family history. His grandfather inadvertantly shot the infamous Zapruder Film. It's the only footage of JFK's assasination in Dallas.

Best Music Book Biographies or Autobiographies

miguel noir — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 20:23:45 GMT

I've become a voracious reader in the last three-four years, chewing up a book a week. Generally I'll read about 5 books a year that have a music focus. I recently read Bob Dylan's autobiography Chronicles. This fascinating account of Dylan's life brought me inside the man who is a legend to some but not to himself. A highly engaging personal depiction that even people who are modest Dylan fans will enjoy.

About five months ago I picked up a biography on Graham Parsons called Grievous Angel written in part by his daughter. Parsons died of a heroin overdose when he was only 27, but his music was a huge influence on the Rolling Stones, The Eagles and many other massive bands that still claim Graham as an influence. One of my favorite parts of the book provided detail on the recording process and debauchery for the Stones Exile on Main Street at which Graham was present at the Chateau in France where the record was recorded. Way too much heroin for everyone except Keith and Graham! While Parsons didn't play a note on the record, his influence is heard throughout.

What music bios or autobios do you MOGGERS recommend?

Favorite Sunday Morning Record?

miguel noir — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 17:16:06 GMT

I love this record. It is a classic and while it may be better for Sunday afternoon, I love it with the first cup of coffee on Sunday morning. Other choices are Thomas A. Dorsey and the Precious Lord recordings. Something about Gospel music that just seems right for Sunday morning. I also have a penchant for anything by Dusty Springfield or Dylan. What about you moggers?

Is album art alive and well? What about lp's or cd's?

miguel noir — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 04:33:50 GMT

I'm not sure how relevant this album art animaton video will be to the digital music era, but I found it to be extremely clever and at times, laugh out loud funny. Enjoy http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1712031

So I'm watching this video and I start thinking, should or do musicians still care about cool album art? And do you moggers care? At some point, I'll bet most people won't even own cd's. Very few people still own lp's and therefore has album art lost its meaning? I know I'm bringing up two different discussions, but I wonder how many of you moggers still own cd's or lp's?

I still own both, but most of the music I listen to is either on my computer or iPod. I have a fairly large cd collection and a couple hundred lp's, but I think I should sell the cd's. I'll hold on to my lp's because there's nothing like playing a 1946 original Live in Stockholm recording of Charlie Parker on a 165 gram piece of vinyl even on an old scratchy kids turntable.

Roger Waters

miguel noir — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 18:49:18 GMT

As a birthday gift for my wife Aviva Noir, I splurged on some great seats to see Roger Waters and his Floyd cover band play at Shorline Ampitheatre in Mountain View, CA earlier this week. As a Floyd lover, the show was epic, the quadraphonic sound engineering was unbelievable, the imagery on stage captivating and the flying pig that got cut loose by some zealous fans made for a Spinal Tap moment as it quickly ascended into the upper atmosphere. I could only imagine a United pilot flying into SFO talking to his passengers. "On your right is the Golden Gate Bridge and on your left is giant flying pig. Truly a classic rock moment and a great show.

For those of you in the Bay Area (especially East Bay near the MOG office), please come by our little underground music showcase tonight. Check out the simple website for more info: http://www.coopted.com

Peace, Miguel Noir

Your Favorite Saturday Night Record?

miguel noir — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 22:41:56 GMT

It's Saturday night and you're getting ready to go out. What's your favorite Saturday night record?

If I had to pick one record, which is exactly what I'm asking you to do, I'd choose Led Zeppelin II. To say that this record absolutely rocks is an understatement and it always gets me pumped. So it's Saturday night and Zep is kicking it on the stereo. Have a great night!

May Lake's first live show

miguel noir — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 05:24:21 GMT

We're playing a house party and the entire MOG community is invited. It's our first show and we're proud to have been invited by the Co-Opted House Party Collective. These cats have been putting on cool shows at people's houses all over the Bay Area for years. It's part of the true underground music scene and it's flourishing. People who come to these music house parties really respect and appreciate music like you Moggers. Please come be a part of it.

Here are the details: Oct 14th 293 Whitmore St (at Broadway & 45th) in Oakland, CA

FOR SOME REASON MOG WON'T LET ME TYPE IN THE DIRECT LINK TO GOOGLE MAPS SO PLEASE CUT AND PASTE THE AFORMENTIONED ADDRESS once you arrive at: http://maps.google.com/maps

May Lake is on at 11pm. The party starts at 9. Please come support this unique event.

Top three live shows you've ever seen

miguel noir — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 05:46:34 GMT

Very few bands have ever really blown me away, but the following three shows changed me.

I saw Nirvana open up for L7 and Dinosaur Jr at the Warfield in San Francisco in June of '91. We got tickets just to see them with D.Jr. a bonus. Bleach had been out for little while, but Nevermind had not yet been released. They absolutely rocked the venue and blew away the other bands they were opening for. The set did contain songs from what would change the music world shortly. The set list was: Polly • School • Floyd The Barber • Smells Like Teen Spirit • Breed • Drain You • About A Girl • Love Buzz • Sliver • Lithium • Negative Creep • Been A Son • Blew. After the show was over we went out one of the side exits that led to an alley and there was Kurt hanging by himself just smoking a cigarette. We all said what a great show he had played and how much we loved the band. He was shy and said thanks. In retrospect, we should have asked him to come party with us, but we were a bit star struck even though he wasn't famous yet. We all knew he would be soon.

I've saw Jane's Addiction seven times between 1990-1991 and they were always great, but one show in particular was spellbinding. In February of 1991, they played Fitchburg St College which was a few hours from where I was living at the time. My brother and I got tickets to the show which was in a hockey rink. At one point, Perry dove out into the audience and was surfing on top of my brother. It was thrilling. The set list was Up the Beach Whores Standing in the Shower Thinking Ain't No Right Three Days Been Caught Stealing Idiots Rule Summertime Rolls Mountain Song Stop Ocean Size

Radiohead played in the Bay Area in June of 2001 (before the world had changed) at Shorline. This was the first time I had seen them after listening to them since the early 90's. They were so real and the music palpable. It had been a long time since I had seen a live band blow me away and it felt great. My buddy Josh and I snuck into a luxury box and got served drinks all night. The set ran like this: 1. National Anthem 2. Morning Bell 3. Lucky 4. Airbag 5. In Limbo 6. Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box 7. You And Whose Army? 8. No Surprises 9. Dollars & Cents 10. Knives Out 11. Permanent Daylight 12. Karma Police 13. Pyramid Song 14. Paranoid Android 15. Idioteque 16. Everything In Its Right Place 17. I Might Be Wrong 18. Fake Plastic Trees 19. The Thief 20. How To Disappear Completely 21. Talk Show Host 22. The Bends 23. Motion Picture Soundtrack

And yours? What are your favorite live shows?

Best album to listened to while stoned?

miguel noir — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 05:29:31 GMT

If I had one to choose, I'd go with Floyd and The Wall closely followed by Sgt Pepper's and more recently Kid A. And you?

We Jam Econo

miguel noir — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 05:42:07 GMT

If you're a fan of The Minutemen, place We Jam Econo in your cue. Filled with great live footage and rare interviews, the film is highly entertaining. The Minutemen were hugely influential on a wide array of artists and their do it yourself attitude is a continued inspiration. And how fortunate are we that Mike Watt is a mogger? http://mog.com/Mike__Watt

MOG Party

miguel noir — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 17:40:56 GMT

Great party last night at the MOG world headquarters. Good vibes, cool people, and obviously great music, most of which I had never heard before. Keep up the great work MOG!

paul brill's 'harpooner' is the real deal

miguel noir — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 05:19:59 GMT

as all of you moggers know, mog is a unique community made up of music freaks. so when an artist like paul brill is posting exclusively on mog and offering free downloads from his new record, it's the responsibility of those of us who love it, to spread the gospel. so check it out! http://mog.com/Paul_Brill

latest brill release eagerly anticipated

miguel noir — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 00:25:38 GMT

although the legend is in his own mind, paul brill has endured. and for what you might ask? and why? for those answers you'd have to delve far into the past and and dredge up ghosts in the hallways of lesser educations. the simple truth is that persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. when you listen brill's track "paris is on" that paul posted on his mog page, you'll know why. i suppose it's ok to repost the link within mog for you moggers to check out even though he requested it not to be disseminated. i interperet his request as to keep it within the mog family. this track is delicious and bitter. looking forward to hearing the new record. thanks for the music paul.

http://www.paulbrill.com/downloads/paris_is_on_Jason_Forrest_Mix_final.mp3 kindly do not disseminate…thanks

the police are timeless

miguel noir — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 05:17:52 GMT

viv and i tivod (verb) this police documentary the other night on Showtime called Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out. it's shot entirely in super 8 most of it by stewart copeland in the early days. incredible footage for any police fan. these guys were so fucking good and appeared to be having so much fun. what a great fusion of rock, punk, reggae, prog and pop. each of them are great musicians in the own right and the songs are simple and obviously so memorable. do they even have a bad song? egos grew and grew until they eventually imploded, but i'm thinking police reunion tour in the next few years. we'll see. i never got to see them live and would kick down the $ to see them. i'll bet a few of you moggers saw them. goldberg? critique?

ween's long career

miguel noir — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 03:45:59 GMT

had a bit of a ween revivial at my pad lately. so many hilarious brilliant records. to some extent these guys were the original do it your self four track home recording gurus. needless to say, ween rules.

met them once at my apartment before a mid 90's show at the warfield. my room mate at the time was jon weiss, a phenomenal drummer with the great early 90’s sf rock you to your core band, horsey. anyone remember them or heard their music? sick! kind of like crimson meets nine inch nails on acid. anyway jon's brother is andrew weiss who produced most of the early ween shit. andrew also played with the rollins band. jon weiss also did some of the ween cover art. my favorite ween record is the oft overlooked WEEN 12 Golden Country Greats. the album features some of the all time great session players like:

Pete Wade – Dobro, Guitar, 6-String Bass Bob Wray – Bass guitar Kip Paxton – Bass Buddy Blackman – Banjo Russ Hicks – Pedal Steel Buddy Spicher – Fiddle, Mandolin Bobby Ogdin – Piano Hargus “Pig” Robbins – Piano Dennis Solee – Clarinet Charlie McCoy – Organ, Banjo, Bass, Harmonica, Percussion, Trumpet, Tuba, Vibraphone Gene Chrisman – Drums Buddy Harman – Drums

these guys played with elvis and bob dylan on many many many many great songs. needless to say, the playing on the ween record is top notch. the vocals are tongue in cheek laced with classic ween humor. please check it out even if you hate country music. i hope you enjoy it.

deadboy back in sf

miguel noir — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 03:29:23 GMT

these guys are fucking cool and they rock too. great show at the cafe du nord a few months ago and they're playing again in the city by the bay on 9/21 at the independent. they get the inevitable white stripes comparison because the duo consists of a guitar playing male and drum playing female and they do play some heavy hard blues/rock riffs with a thorough deep swamp sound that also includes the quiet and damp side of the bayou. worht checking out for sure.

pearl jam sucks or just bill graham civic?

miguel noir — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 05:00:22 GMT

i've been away and have been yearing to mog so this post is a little late, but i thought the pearl jam show back on 7/15/06 at bill graham auditorium in san francisco was at best tolerable. yes bill graham is a horrendous venue for audio quality. i mean has anyone ever really seen a great show there? i think bill is rolling over in his grave that they named that place after him. why not change the name of the fillmore or open up winterland again and name it after the maestro but the reality is that pearl jam's just not a great band. perhaps they're the best modern garage band in recent memory, but they're missing an edge and something is sorely lacking in their originality plus i can't stomach their frat boy crowd. they're all excellent rock musicians and i respect them immensely, but i just can’t connect with them on anything more than a visceral level. do they deserve another chance?

oakland art murmur

miguel noir — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 23:46:04 GMT

last night dave, christian and i went out to oakland's monthly art/music scene called art murmur located around 23rd and telegraph. there were about 10 very cool galleries filled with local work from east bay artists and they teemed with hip young urban artistes and spectators gazing. out of nowhere on a side street emerged four young women out of a white van and they started doing double dutch. they had obviously been plying their craft for some time, but the highlight was when two unexpected members of the crowd jumped in and particicpated with wild abandon. there was also a very cool femal duo who played tunes reminiscent of stereolab with vocals liberally soaked in reverb and some a drummer playing brushes on the sides of a wooden console which triggerd various beats. up next was a pretty weak helmet wannabe so we snuck off to ent the night at van cleefe where we saw some jazz vets pumping it out sounding like coltrane on an off night which is still pretty effing excellent.needless to say the whole scene was very cool and i look forward to it again int august.

http://www.oaklandartmurmur.com/pages/about.php

east bay brothers creating art or imitating life?

miguel noir — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 23:33:07 GMT

what instruments do you moggers play? anyone recording or playing out in and around oakland? my brother, pedro noir and i have played in bands for years and we play multiple instruments, sing, write and manipulate electronics to try and create melodicmodernrootsyelectrodynamicemoslowtriphoppypyschedelic sounds. pedro's moving back to norcali later this summer and we're starting a band. we'd love to hear from you if you play drums, bass or other multiinstrumentalists who see themselves as artists not rock stars and want to get some cool groovy tunes together for recording and playing a live show, preferabely house parties or galleries once every three months. post if you're interested...

peace, m

Great Shows You Wish You Could Have Seen

miguel noir — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 05:20:10 GMT

About a month ago, my wife and I went on a trip to the Cook Islands in the South Pacific with a bunch of my clients. I know, nice perk! It was absolutely spectacular there with minimal development and zero chain stores or large hotels. A true slice of paradise and one of the most beautiful places on earth. I highly recommend it. The music was purely west polynesian with, in many cases, fast powerful tempos and beautiful yet haunting melodies. Anyway, one nighut we of course got to talking about music and someone said, "OK pick the top three shows you wish you could have seen." People had a wide array of answers, but most of the shows were before we we born. They included: Bob Dylan anywhere in the East Village, The Talking Heads at CBGB's, Blondie at CB's, Madonna at CB's, Phish at Nectar's (although we'd seen them many times there), and many more great perfromances. My takes were:

1. Hendrix at dawn - Woodstock (although The Who and CSNY would have been great that night too, just stay off the brown acid)

2. Pink Floyd at Pompei. One of the great live music film performances of all time surely would have been spectacular in person.

3. The Beatles on top of the Apple building in downtown London until the coppers came and shut them down. Of course much of this final Beatles performance can be seen on the incredible film Let it Be. To have witnessed this performance would make you a witness to music history.

What about you. What are your top three live shows that you wish you could have seen?

Peace,

is it just me?

miguel noir — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 19:33:12 GMT

or is everyone else still buzzing about the radiohead shows they saw at the greek in berkeley last weekend? i can't get those bass melodies out of my head. religious.

every so often a band comes along that, for bettter worse, i become obsessed with. in 3rd grade it was kiss. in 7th, the beatles. they carried me through high school where i also discovered the dead and most awesome 60-70's bands as well as u2 and the police, but the beatles found me analyzing every note, phrase and recording trick when recording was in its infancy. other than les paul, these guys were the first sound innovators and almost all recording tricks today were originated by the beatlers. if your're curious about this, check out the coffee table book titled The Beatles: The Ultimate Recording Guide. lots of insane and easy to duplicate tecniques for recording your own music etc...

when i got to college the dead prevailed early on and like most of us college deadheads,we went on various tours selling shit like t-shirts and kind veggie stir fries. learned years later that hyman and my wife used to call me goat boy because of my crazy alien like dreads. wonder if anyone still has a picture of me from that era? got into phish in '87-88 when they were playing slade hall and nectar's for free, but they lost me as i got into heavier stuff like jane's addiction and nirvana. obsessed with both of those bands, i went on jane's tour for two weeks (about 12 shows) INCREDIBLE! especially watching my younger brother mosh in the hockey rink at fitchburg state and perry body surfing on top of him.

after moving to sf, saw nirvana before nevermind broke at the warfield in 1991. sick!!! anyone else go to that show? they opened for L7 and dinosaur jr and blew both bands away. after the show we met kurt in the alley way behind the venue smoking cigarettes and knowing we were standing next to rock royalty. should have asked him to come out with us, but we were too shy. saw them five more times. great every time.

the 90's grunge obsession gave way to my bloody valentine whom i never saw live, but transgressed to portishead (again another great show at the warfield), low and other slow core bands like red house painters. love all of them and would make every effort to wallow in their sweet depressed sounds. all of this translated to my own bands' (envelope) body of work as we travelled the counrty playing hundreds of shows to no one in particular until a bidding war that never really materialized landed us a development deal with sony 550 and a record that got shelved. if anyone wants a copy, just send me a self addressed stamped shipping envelope with postage enough to cover the cost of sending a cd and i'll ship one off to you. 900 front st. sf, ca 94111.

all of this brings me to my current obsession with radiohead. is there really another relevant rock band out there today? a better live band? a band that fuses great songwriting with psychedelic, prog, hard, brooding ballads, and honesty. unbelievable. simply unbelievable. i was also amazed how they could rock so hard like in paranoid android and switch gears into fake plastic trees so effortlessly. this is something the dead perfected and jane's could also do, but radiohead brings it all into a new dimension. when i'm 40 will there be a new band that does this to me? still a few years to go, but will you let me know who that will be if you know already?

peace