Chartered Trips

Snowblind.

Since it still feels like it is February outside, here are some belated pictures from Valentine's Day.

"Bird that smoked too many cigs." - An Interdisciplinary Mixed-Media Edible Group Installation Piece by Reeble, Mattus, TBro.
Romance.

If You Love Something Set It Free.

i saw Blank Dogs play tonite for the first time. As a 5 piece rock band.  To an oversold room of atleast 250.  40% were industry.  At the Cobra Lounge. 

Steam Tour 09'

i went to LA again in Feb. (3rd trip there in under a year i think?)
i went up to the Hills for the first time ever. There are rattlesnakes up there.

i saw Beverly Hills for the first time too. This isn't it though....
It kinda rained the whole time.

But there were rainbows.

Judd showed Damian his sick MP3 collection.  We were all a bit skeptical...

This is Antique Skinhead Row in Pomona. It exists. Agnostic Front bros and wealthy white suburban Tiffany lamp collectors living together in harmony. Oh the Magical Inland Empire.

Katrina

i went to NOLA back in December and had neglected to post pictures because i got a new memory card in my camera and forgotted where my old one was.....

i was pleased to see there are still Labryinth inspired street buskers (note the actual crystal ball) in the quarter.  Keanu on the left?

Other parts of New Orleans are still in tact (from the 19th c.) as well. This is the ceiling of a coffee house in uptown.
Chris Robert contemplating the human condition at 19thc. coffee house.

C.Rob performing the human condition through interpretive break dance.
i saw the most well laid out ladies' room i've ever seen at some bar in the Marigny. 

and the most "backstage-like" backstage area i had ever been in at One Eyed Jack's.
My other old Reckless bro, Miss Sarah Mason, has moved down there as well. It was her bday weekend  so we went to a daquiri bar in the suburbs (Cremes & Dreams in Meterie) to celebrate.
Sarah and Chris also taught me about this phenomena which apparently only exists in the Big Easy. People trick their cars out like their favorite candy. And they drive around in these cars on purpose.

True birthplace of steam.

sometimes i get jealous

Fave part is Randy calling him "Bob Fucking Mould".

time

hello. 
although it was my intention to do this blog for only one year (the length of my free trial), it has come to my attention that typepad has taken the liberty of charging my card for another year. it is non-refundable.  so for my 20 loyal readers, i just wanted to let you know updates are forthcoming. it has been an tumultuous, exciting, and terrifying/ liberating 6 weeks. and as usual the gritty details of it will probably only be glossed over here.  but there are some photos. and some life has been lived. so yeah, we'll be together soon.
love,
t

Weekend at Bernie's.

Happy Hannukah

Three people i love to the moon and back had/are having bdays this month:

Seth MC Lil' Flodge Hoeskstra. December 11, 1981.  This is a sober picture of us at some house party in the  Summer of 06'.

Sara Reebs Reebler.  December 17, 1978. This is a picture of us tripping in the Mojave Desert from Summer of 08'.

Christy-Claire Trick Ass Hoe Katien.  This is a picture of us from NYC's  Indian Summer of 07'.

Meanwhile summer's anithesis is happening outside....
That is my car, stuck in 4 x 7 block of ice in front of my house. It has been there for 2 days and i have no hope of getting it out, or leaving my house until Friday at this point.
So im just gonna be domestic as shit until then.  Happy Holidays! And fuck you winter, til the end.

details.

An Open Letter to Dudes in Bands Who Wear Tight Jeans,
Take the shit out of your pockets before you go on stage. Seriously, i did not just pay $12 to stare at the outline of your wallet, keys,  and/or smokes.  I mean it would look pretty ridiculous if i shoved my Petco card in my bra while wearing one of those low cut v-neck jobs i always rock, right?
Right.
thanks for listening,
t

Alphabetically Ordered Nepotism.

All the Saints Fire On Corridor X (Killer Pimp/ Touch and Go)- imagine if Ride had been from Alabama. And they were the NICEST fucking dudes that you have EVER been blessed to know.

Blank Dogs  In a Web  7” (Daggerman) – fans of  shit gaze & glue wave take note-- this is the ONLY band whose name you will ever need to know post 2008.

Blank Dogs Mirror Lights Cassette (Drone Errant) – also, i prefer “Mad Max Batcave” to any of the aforementioned genres.

Blank Dogs Diana the Herald  12” (Sacred Bones) - this came out in 07’, sue me

Blank Dogs Two Months 7” (Florida’s Dying) - the b-side, “Poison Ivy” is better

Blank Dogs Yellow Mice Sleep EP (HoZac) - HoZac the label > HoZac the zine

Crystal Stilts Alight of Night (Slumberland)- finally, someone getting JAMC nostalgia dead right.  FUCK IT. im rewriting this. full disclosure-- i put this record on my year end list before i had actually heard it. i knew it would be amazing based on their EP's and the assurance of Mr. Blank Dogs that i would WIG OUT on their new shit. so yeah, they are not just "finally, someone getting JAMC nostalgia dead right". They are way beyond JAMC. This band is the musical equivalent of dotting your i's with hearts. They are the ULTIMATE CRUSH. Perfect girl group wall of Spector with all of the swagger of the Velvets. If this list wasnt alphabetical this record would be numero uno. Yeah, i said it.  Favorites, picked.

Dan Melchior Und Das Menace Christmas for the Crows LP (Daggerman) – i stumbled upon this record completely accidentally, my summer sub-letters had left a pile of LP’s near our turntable that they had borrowed. One of them had a picture of a grey cat on the label. “i have a grey cat!” i thought to myself. “This must be a sign!” And so it was……

Deerhunter Weird Era Cont./ Microcastle (Kranky)- i am listing this two-for-one record in reverse order, because Weird Era shoulda been the follow-up to Cryptograms.  Jus sayin’…..

Diet Cola S/T (Army of Bad Luck)- the artwork for this 7” is the finest hand crafted ish i have ever seen on a record, and that means a lot considering i have worked in record stores for upwards of ten years now.

Eddy Current Suppression Ring Primary Colours  (Goner Records) - 2nd favorite Australian export (See NOV entry below). i haven’t actually heard the Nodzz but im betting they aren’t quite as good as this as far as reviving the Flying Nun stee. After all Eddy Current does have home court advantage here (counting AUS and NZ  as one territory of course… C’mon like you don’t do that too.)

Fucked Up The Chemistry of Common Life (Matador) - Seventy guitar tracks might look self-indulgent on another band. Somehow these geniuses pull it off, er should i say, continue to pull it off. i even like the pop punk song  w/ the douche chills guyliner guest vocalist. Fuck it, i especially like that song.

Gang Gang Dance Saint Dymphna (Social Registry) - i never knew i liked house music until i was on mushrooms in the Mojave desert surrounded by 16 people i’m in love with.  this record was playing on repeat and every time it played over it sounded like the a brand new record. a brand new god-like record.

Gun Outfit S/T 7” (PPM)- imagine if Beat Happening didn’t suck. They sound “old” in a specifically Pac NW Meat Puppets way, w/o ever sounding retro, ironic, or even like they are trying really.  i have heard next year’s full length already and i’m pretty sure as long as they don’t tour w/ only h/c bands (Judd, forgive me) they could be a very very big deal. In other words this is the flannel you’ve been waiting for.

Kurt Vile Constant Hitmaker (Gulcher )- No matter how many inches of snow and sleet are on the ground outside, playing the first track on this record is guaranteed to make you feel like you’re smoking a j-bone in the Caribbean and that you really are gonna have a functional relationship with your ex.

Naked on the Vague Blood Pressure Sessions (Siltbreeze)- Listenable no wave?  Yeah, i didn’t know it was possible either.

Nugde Infinity Padlock EP (Audraglint) – Brian Foote is the dude behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz. He is the Wizard, or possibly Oz, whichever one of those is more enigmatic, he’s that one.

Sex Vid Communal Living 12” (Dom America)- If this band stopped releasing live records that sound like my cat w/ bronchitis they would pretty much be perfect.  Posting a pic of my cassette version is really obnoxious, huh?

These Are Powers Taro Tarot EP (Hoss)- Roommate nepotism.  Seriously though watching a band grow this much in a year is pretty impressive. When each subsequent release next levels your previous work, you know you are headed in the right direction.

VSS Nervous Circuits Reissue (Hydrahead)-  it comes w/ a dvd yo!

Addendums & Crystal Balls:

Blank Dogs Note- (** Yes, I did just put 5 records by ONE dude on a “top ten” list.  What’s more, is that i even left off a couple BD releases from the last year—there were 12 total since spring of  07’.   And they were all fucking remarkable.  Alls i can hear is Ian Mckaye’s voice-- “what the fuck have YOU done?”**)

((Abe Vigoda Skeleton (PPM))- this actually didn’t make the list, because it got totally eclipsed when I heard  Reviver their follow-up EP which has ALREADY made my Best of 09’ list.

Lotus Plaza The Floodlight Collective (Kranky)- also already on 09’s list. For those of you that have liked Deerhunter for the last couple of years, you are about to find out why.

Also, on a general note, people who say “nothing good came out this year” aren’t fucking trying hard enough.