I’m famous in Japan!

Hooray!  My pictures for Scott Murphy’s cover has hit Japan.  Next up: Venus Zine!

i <3 ukes

Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra

90s television composer king.

W. G. Snuffy Walden.

So, I’ve recently started watching Felicity. Its quite a silly show and as I watch it I keep seeing the MadTV parody “Intensity”, but mainly what I’ve noticed is the musical score.. it kept reminding me of My So Called Life.. Sure enough it IS the same mastermind playing on the same prepubescent heartstrings. Good Ole Snuffy. Apparently he does stuff for Friday Night Lights etc now.. I wonder if i could still pick him out..

___

OMG episode 4 connects me back to MSCL yet again. Dear sweet Brian Krakow, what ever happened between you and Angela the world will never know.. 4 years later you look quite different but you don’t fool me!

–>

Basia Bulat

Photo by Photo by Laura Gray-Shapera courtesy of Spin

On Thursday I saw Basia Bulat at Schubas Tavern. My recent infatuation with her was a complete fluke. I was bored and looking at shows coming soon, clicked on the link to her myspace, watched her video for ‘In The Night’ and promptly fell in love.

Yeah, that’s the video that did it for me. Even once I was listening to her music and had her song in my head I was hesitant to go to the show.. $10 is a lot of money for me these days and it was a gamble for such a recent and unfounded infatuation, but I took the jump and am so happy for it. Basia plays alongside a band of 4, a ukulele player/vocalist, a violinist/vocalist, keyboardist, her brother on drums, and she plays the autoharp/guitar. The music is epic and wreaking of gospel – the type that penetrates through you and makes your heart beat irregularly and feel warm and giddy. So giddy that even she giggled after every single song. She started the show a capella with stomps and claps and it was SO damn impressive – I turned to Mark and proclaimed “The girl’s got pipes!” and no one could deny her that. I think “in the night” is still my favorite song of hers, she played some self proclaimed “sad songs” in the middle of the set that I could have done without – as they weren’t very sad just mellow and I love her for her largeness. But she picked it back up for the second half of the set and in the end she let us know that our insatiable cheers led to her first encore! All the unusual instruments and the insanely amazingly strong vocals and harmonies with her two ladyfriends made my heart spin and made the show quite fun to watch. I highly recommend you check out her website for dates near you.

KING KHAN AND THE BBQ SHOW!

Soooooo good!

Unlike Celebration, I was weary of an encore but only because we were front row and center and the crowd was KILLING us with the rock!

I put on their music in the coffee shop the other day and asked my boss if he liked it – he said “yeah – but it’s way before my time!” -NOT! These guys bring back that old rock and roll feel leaving it just a bit rougher and tougher, giving you more to rock the fuck out to. Mark Sultan is mostly quiet when he’s not singing behind his little drumset but King Khan was instigating the crowed to fight and dancing away in that little minidress. Fantastic!

Grab the tunes at http://www.myspace.com/thekingkhanbbqshow

See also – http://www.myspace.com/theblacklips

http://www.myspace.com/kingkhantheshrines

http://www.myspace.com/marksultan

I’m heavily infatuated with this band…

photo by http://www.withreservation.com/

It’s been a while since I’ve fallen head over heels for a band, and true love takes time to develop.. but after seeing CELEBRATION last weekend I CANNOT stop listening to them. If you have the opportunity to see this band live – do yourself the favor. I am usually disappointed by live music these days. Even with bands I love I’m tired and ready to leave by the end of the show and when people start begging for the encore I get annoyed – but with Celebration I NEEDED that extra song! Lead Singer Katrina has such a strong presence, you can’t help but admire her the entire time. Her voice is so soulful and you can tell she feels it the whole was through. She used her energy to keep the crowd going without having to put on a show. Effing fantastic.

I’m not one for reviewing music, I can’t keep up with the terminology of what’s what and the proper adjectives never come, but I do know I love the way they sound. So give them a listen for yourself – Comets is my current favorite (but its one of their slower ones so make sure to listen to them all).

Here’s a neat video presentation from their website

And I didn’t know it before but they’re from Baltimore! Representin’!

Phil Elvrum

I went to see Mt eerie after nannying tonight. Felt the same I always do about him.. he’s just too far out there for me. Enjoyable – but nothing I can grasp. I liked the opener Privacy quite a bit, her songs were short and just cut out at the end, but I love female vocalists. Her voice was reminiscent of Nico in the deep full sort of way. And she was pretty cute. I missed most of Karl Blau but he seemed allright. The end.

This morning while walking Roxie I was rushing around until I smelt that lovely smell of wet, decompositioning leaves and stopped dead in my tracks. MMMMM. I had one of those smelly flashbacks to the woods behind my house as a wee lass just upturning every pile of leaves I could find and when I would turn over rotting logs to find salamanders, they were sticky wet and wiggled to escape my grasp and I loved that feeling, does Illinois have Salamanders? Thanks google for the correct answer – YES and they look like THIS. Sick. Anyhow, its that sweet smelling fresh dirt – not the poop kind.. I know you know what I’m talking and have probably already enjoyed that smell this season but I’ve managed to be too busy to turn over a few damp leaves so if you haven’t – Stop and smell the wet leaves won’t you?

Also this morning on 103.1 there was a DREXCLUSIVE playing the whole new Britney album that doesn’t evening come out for a few more months and I foudn myself excited for a moment – What? Has my fascination with celebrity fuck-ups finally ruined me the way Mark says it will? I briefly considered staying in the car to listen to it a bit longer but upon arrival to the thrift store I just turned off the car forgetting I was even listening to anything. Close call…

Along that note – I’ve been remembering how exciting it used to feel to go see music live, I’m talking even bigger than that punk show feeling- I’m talking STADIUM EVENTS! With superstars you’d been waiting months to see and you didn’t care that seats were $50 and you were in the back because your Mom bought them! John(shout out to the only person who reads my blog!) and Cindy went to St Louis for Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello yesterday and their post-concert afterglow left me quite jealous. I don’t even think I like music enough these days.. but damn I miss it.

Kirby Kindheart

I wish I could actually post this song, but unfortunatly finding kids songs online is a bit difficult. It’s by Steve Weeks and the girl I nanny for listens to it and I think it’s great. Oh hey you can hear the chorus here! but beware.. its damn catchy.

Kiki Kangaroo
Likes to bounce around
Kicks her heels up
You can not hold her down
She won’t be in one place long
Waitin’ ’round for you

Good luck keeping up with
Kiki Kangaroo

Now Kenny Keepsake came to Kiki Kangaroo
He said, “Kiki I have a brand new rope I’d like to give to you”
“Tie it ‘round your waist and you will never stray again.”
“If you’d just quit this bouncing ‘round, I’ll keep you close at hand!”

Kiki said, “Thank you kindly, but don’t you see?”
“I am not a kite, going nowhere, tugging on a string”
“When the wind comes callin’, it fills me up inside”
“I gotta cut lose, blow across the countryside”.

REPEAT CHORUS

Now Kyle Keyring came to Kiki Kangaroo
He said, “Kiki I have a job that I’d like to offer you”
“Come and cook my dinner, and I’ll pay you handsomely.”
“If you’d just quit this bouncing ‘round, you can come and work for me!”

Kiki said, “Thank you kindly, but don’t you know?”
“I’m not a kettle to be kept upon some kitchen stove.”
“With all this Life boilin’ up inside of me”
“I gotta whistle ‘cross the fields and let off a little steam”.

REPEAT CHORUS

Now Kevin Kingly came to Kiki Kangaroo
He said, “Kiki I have a home for you.”
“Come live in my castle, and I will keep you safe.”
“If you’d just quit this bouncing ‘round, you’d have a place to stay!”

Kiki said, “Thank you kindly, but I must turn you down.”
“I am not a kingdom you can draw your lines around”
“’Cause when I start to dream of distant lands,”
“My borders will unravel, and I’ll run right off the map.”

REPEAT CHORUS

Now Kirby Kindheart came to Kiki Kangaroo
He said, “Kiki I would not change a single thing about you”
“All that bouncin’ ‘round you do, it don’t bother me at all”
“But next time when you go, will you please take me along?”

“Kiki, I don’t have very much to give.”
“All I really have to offer you is a kiss.”
He put that kiss on Kiki’s cheek that day
And Kiki put him in her pocket, and she just hopped away.

hells canyon, rilo kiley, and jason anderson

october 2-october 8th

Mark just bought out tickets for our vacation to Seattle/Hells canyon!! We had wanted to drive one way and go through Yellowstone but renting a car turned out fo be way too expensive so we “settled” for hells canyon. I don’t really mind though, the more I look into Hells Canyon the more excited I get! I ordered 2 books about trails out there.. I’m going to have to watch a lot more Man Vs Wild before this trip. Maybe next time Yellowstone.

_____

This album is lame. Well, it’s good.. for straight up pop music.. but it sounds NOTHING like Rilo Kiley.. I was really excited for their show September 15th but now I have little to no desire to even see them. Rilo Kiley has been one of my top 5 bands since I first heard them at least 5 years ago.. nothing about them has ever dissapointed me until this album. What a bummer I keep listening to it hoping it will grow on me and I’ll figure out what they were thinking but there is just no depth to this album.

_____

To end on a lighter note – Jason Anderson’s new album is EFFING AWESOME! If you’ve ever been to one of Jason’s shows, you’ll know that this is the best way of capturing his music. The mix of terrific quality production with the live show feel goodness is just the way I love it. Yes he does get a little carried away with the Woah’s! but it’s a small trade off for the feel-good, and fun to have in your head throughout the day. <3