…

5 months ago

I almost wish it was still this difficult, I think this was magic. (via @JakeRudh)

6 months ago

This is just cool.

7 months ago

A Little Bowie…

Woke up with Seven stuck in my head this morning. The album hours… was Bowie’s first album after Ziggy to not make the top 40. A shame, it’s a great album.

Seven | David Bowie | hours… | 1999
Produced by David Bowie and Reeves Gabrels

7 months ago

tumblrbot asked: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE INANIMATE OBJECT?

My Kat, Orbit.

7 months ago

Hmmm…so my apartment flooded a couple years back and I had all my CDs out and the bottom shelf got destroyed. The discs are trashed. I basically took all the bad ones and threw them in a box and left it at that. Now that I’m moving again, I want to move as little as possible and now I’m going through some stuff.

Before the bad, I had all the CDs ripped to my computer, so I didn’t really lose that much music, but you wouldn’t believe how many good artists are in T-Z. Here’s the casualties:

John Taylor Solo (all out of print, and not available digitally)
Tears for Fears
Thompson Twins
Tin Porter (Minneapolis band, out of print, a top 10 fave)
Tremorphlo (My singer’s previous band, all out of print)
KT Tunstall
The Twin Peaks Soundtrack
U2
Velvet Revolver
The Velvet Underground
The Vines
Paul Westerberg
The White Stripes
Wham!
The Who
Yes
Rob Zombie/White Zombie

Yep kind of sucks. There were some other groups in there, but these were the majors. Somehow my Tool made it through, which is awesome, because they’re packaging is really cool.

9 months ago

#morning song

Oh, no, they say he’s got to go
Go go Godzilla
Oh, no, there goes Tokyo
Go go Godzilla

Stuck in my head this morning.

Godzilla | Blue Oyster Cult| Spectres | 1977
Produced by Blue Öyster Cult, Murray Krugman, Sandy Pearlman, David Lucas

10 months ago

Duran Duran: Night Two

So I have to write about Duran in Chicago. Not that I feel obligated to, but I did say I would, and I’m really trying to keep up on this blogging thing. After all, it’s good for your soul.

Brad Karl Sam and I road tripped to Chicago. Nobody else has every traveled out of town to see a show, so it was cool for them. Traveling just to see a show is something I used to do all the time, a broken habit I need to get back in to.

There was some great stuff about the second show, I’ll just post a list, then explain. Better sound, bigger stage, less rain, warmer weather, shorter people, and one really fuckin’ cool song.

So to give some more explanation, compared to the Minneapolis show, the stage was literally twice the size and the sound was awesome. My friend Jake Rudh posted a link to my first post (cheers Jake) and people were commenting…sorry Local Current just threw on some Hüsker Dü…

Anyway, Facebook comments. People were saying that the sound at the Epic depended on where you were, and if you were right up front, the sound wasn’t very mixed, it all depended on where you were in the room.

I’m calling shenanigans. When you pay $50+ (we paid $75 each) to see a international group in a club, you expect the sound to be raw but good, or at least mixed. When I see a band at First Ave., there aren’t any excuses over sound. They have good sound.

I saw a complaint about the Fine Line sound, but I have to say that must have been an off night with a bad sound guy. Everytime I’ve gone to a show at the Fine Line (or played there) the sound has been spot on. I saw The Bangles play there (major national act) and the sound was awesome. But I digress…if the Epic wants the big show, they have to learn to play with the big boys. The House of Blues sound was on. Was it perfect, no, after all it was a club. And for the stage, much more fitting of Duran Duran. They weren’t bumping into each other. But I thought it was awesome to see them on such a small stage in Minneapolis.

The crowd was happier in Chicago, it wasn’t raining and it was a good 20 degrees warmer. The House of Blues was extremely efficient at getting people into the show. We were at the end of the “Pass the Line” line, I’d estimate 200+ people. The doors opened at 7:30, and at 7:40 we were 20 feet from the stage. Not bad on entrance.

Now being behind 20+ people from the stage, I could see over everyone. They were all shorter than me. And I’m 5’9”. Chicago has some short Duran fans. (By the end of the show I was only 4 people back)

I did meet people from all over Illinois, Ohio and Michigan. Cool stuff. Every Duran show I go to, I meet people from all over. (The longest was Italy, at the Orange County show in 2003) Viva Facebook, we’re all in touch now.

The set was pretty much the same as the night before, but who can expect them to change much. They basically skipped The Reflex, playedFriends of Mine (one seriously fuckin’ cool song) in the main set. For an encore, they played The Reflex (instead of A View to a Kill) and ended with the extended goodbyes of Girls on Film.

Now I mentioned in an earlier post that the new album is still rather foreign to me, but after hearing these songs live, I really dig the new album. It gave a way better perspective of the songs.

So since this isn’t really a review of the show, just my commentary, here’s some pics. (Hey, it’s my blog)

Simon was yet again, spot on. Fuckin’ great vocals.

John has a new scarf tonight

Best shot I could get of Roger

Just love this shot.

Again, the best I could get of Nick.

Great shot of John

10 months ago

I woke up in my hotel this morning with a bunch of new Duran understandably running through my head. After an amazing show last night I’m a little more psyched to listen to their new record.

I did give the new record, I’d say, five complete listens (two with the added tracks from the CD release). Not really enough to pass judgement, but I knew nothing was grabbing me. Then I saw quite a few of the songs live…

They played All You Need is Now, Being Followed, Safe, Leave a Light On, Blame the Machine and Girl Panic ! But what I was really missing, was The Man Who Stole a Leopard. Great song.

I heard these songs live two nights in a row now, and with the band’s enthusiasm behind them, they took on a whole new life. Duran Duran, like most bands, are better live.

So I have All You Need is Now, Being Followed, Safe, Leave a Light On, Blame the Machine and Girl Panic ! running regular rotation in my skull, though I’m still not crazy about Leave a Light On.

All You Need Is Now | Duran Duran | 2010
Produced by Mark Ronson and Duran Duran
*Note: The CD release has more songs than the download.

10 months ago

#Live

Duran Duran: Night One

So my friend Sam and I went to see Duran Duran tonight at the Epic in Minneapolis. The show was fucking great! Simon’s vocals were spot on. The sound was a bit off, overall, not well mixed. Roger’s toms were hard to hear, keyboards and guitars were also hard to hear. I’d give the sound production about a C-, but the performance by the boys was A+. My only major complaint was the 40 minute, fan made film of videos for the new record. 40 minutes long, when you were expecting to see Duran. I’d rather have an opening band.

We’re road trippin’ with Brad and Karl to see the show tomorrow night at the House of Blues in Chicago. Here’s some shots from tonight’s show. I was about three girls back. (I say girls, because I thing I was about the closest guy.) I hope to have better shots at tomorrow’s show, I was running out of battery on my phone tonight.

Johnny T.