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01/22/10
O2 Shepherds Bush Empire London
Discography
01/24/10 Tivoli Utrecht 01/25/10 Luxor Koln 01/26/10 Knust Hamburg 01/28/10 Nalen Stockholm 01/29/10 Parkteatret Oslo 02/01/10 Lido Berlin 02/02/10 Atomic Cafe Munich 02/03/10 Tunnel Milan 02/05/10 Divan Du Monde Paris 02/06/10 Trix Antwerp 02/08/10 Academy 3 Manchester 02/09/10 King Tuts Glasgow
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brettanderson.co.uk ♥ myspace.com
Those who follows our W♥M Podcast, you'll know that between Sally, Kristen, and I, that we really, really love our Britpop music. When Suede burst on the scene, with all their hype*, I was a bit, what's the word? Resistant.
I eventually got over it when I heard Metal Mickey, a nice rock n roll glammy track with aggressive Butler guitars and Anderson's unique voice. The songwriting duo of Anderson/Butler did not last for long, and Butler's replacement, Richard Oakes, seems only a pale copy of the original. I think everyone knew that, and eventually, Bernard Butler and Brett Anderson got over their differences and re-united - but not as Suede... they were then The Tears. I think everyone was confused on how to interpret it at first (personally I think it's like tears/crying, not ripped/tear).
The Tears didn't live for very long, and by 2007, Brett Anderson releases his inevitable solo self-titled album. I never bought his solo stuff, because I don't think his music post-Suede's Head Music** were ever re-release or re-marketed to the US audience, so the few promo downloads that he's made available for free, I wasn't so impressed with. I remember thinking his debut solo album was trying to be orchestral (based on what I've heard).
Imagine my surprise when I got a chance to listen to a few tracks from his latest album, Slow Attack, officially via We7.com. It was all very operatic, almost minimalistic in its approach of piano and percussions. I did like that it brings out Anderson's voice loud and clear, but it generally made all of his music to be on the sadder end of the scale.
While I think one or two slow songs would be OK for a full length, all of the tracks I sampled were in that very similar tone. Kind of ballady and depressing. I kind of miss the old Suede stuff. The only redeeming value is that at least, his voice isn't altered/over-produced as with Suede's Head Music and Coming Up.
I suppose, Anderson's much older now, wow you can see his cheek bones sticking out of his face... such a difference of imagery, from a time when mean-spirited fans were calling him "fatty" (we all kind of knew it was the getting off the drugs that was causing the weight thing... allegedly).
Anyway, if you were looking for the glory rock days, don't bother looking into Slow Attack. If you're a hardcore fan, chances are you probably own the limited edition anyway. The album will probably not be released in the US, as were all his previous releases. Import costs are generally cheaper these days, but expect to pay about $20 for an import album (Amazon is listing $19).
Brett Anderson is touring in 2010, so if you live in the UK, you can relive your youth days. If he were touring the US, I might leave my hibernation to see him. As you know, I've met the band before at a special "after-party", I'm sure he'll have no idea who I am.
* "Best Band in Britain" before releasing their album? Really, Melody Maker, really??)
** Suede's last album, A New Morning was never released in the US.
TRUE NATURE
truenatureband.com ♥ myspace.com
As you know, I also run a website on artist George Perez, and it's rare when my music and comic website mix. How does True Nature and George Perez cross paths, you ask? The cover artwork for True Nature's EP, Feels Like Centuries, stars actress/model Tonya Kay (with some artwork and directions from Glen Wexler).
Perez, through his associations with Fetish Con, have actually drawn Tonya Kay as a print, for Fetish Con's "Who's the Best Bondage Super Heroine?" contest. The original artwork was auctioned off for charity.
CREATURE (Tonya Kay) (2008), art by George PérezSo, there's the connection. As for True Nature's EP, Feels Like Centuries, based on the cover artwork, it looks like they're also marketing themselves as somewhat of a spiritual rock band. I reckon if you like classic American progressive-type rock, you might enjoy this EP. Despite having only five tracks, the EP is "centuries" long (so long that it felt like a chore to get through). It's not that I dislike singer/songwriter, Lou Barlow's vocals, it's just really not the type of music I enjoy.
Their best track is the opening song, "Truth I Have To Steel (Simple Heart)", which started off strong and remain steadily so throughout the song. You can sample the entire track on their official website.
You can pick up Feels Like Centuries at CD Baby or Amazon. Although, not really my thing, I'm glad that there was at least a common connection for me.
12/26/2009 19:48:38 ♥ vu (
) ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
Here is my favorite Vic Chesnutt memory: The first time I ever saw Vic in concert, I was very surprised to notice that we were wearing identical shirts. I'm not talking about the same R.E.M. concert tee or something like that; I'm talking about the same dark blue long-sleeved button-up collared shirt with thin white lines criss-crossing across it. The chances of two people wearing that shirt on the same night at the same venue...well, I don't really know what the chances were. I'd say very small. Later on in the same evening, he sang "Gravity of the Situation" and I cried like a stupid fucking baby.
See you in 2010!
So I guess, like, Merry Christmas and stuff.
It's been a weird year. I put together my photo "yearbook" in iPhoto yesterday and titled it: The Waiting Area; 2009 never happened. Because that's what this year has felt like. Limbo. I don't know if this feeling is specific to the year - will things suddenly start moving again when I peel open this year's wall calendar from my uncle? Probably not. But that's what we always hope for, right? That the new year will change something, and we can simply leave behind the things we don't want.
- President Barack Obama. Although I'm a bit non-plussed with the Copenhagen agreement, I am still SO GLAD he got elected. I trust him to make good decisions even if I may not agree 100% of the time, and it has been a long time since I trusted a president. I think I felt pretty good about Jimmy Carter when I was 6.
- Expanded unemployment benefits. If this money weren't available I would likely be homeless by now. That may sound a bit dramatic, but I have now joined the ranks of those just a couple of steps from financial disaster, and once you're on that ledge it's easy to slip off of it.
- Infinite Summer. I joined the ranks of David Foster Wallace fans who read or re-read Infinite Jest over the summer. I'm glad I finally read it, but it really needs a 2nd or 3rd reading...
- I went to San Francisco and finally met Patty, Laurel, Deborah, and karen. It felt like I've known them for years! I'm still kind of amazed by the connections I've made through Vox. It doesn't seem to happen anywhere else on the interwebs...
- My cousin bought a lake house. It's more of a "cabin" really... but it is a place I can stay on Lake Coeur d'Alene in the summertime for free.
- The birth of anemone. I don't really know where it will go at this point, but it has been an adventure planting the seed.
- I've made progress on my memoir and other writing projects. Not nearly as much progress as I wanted to make... but everything slows down in Limbo.
- I'm getting used to a healthier, simpler lifestyle. More cooking, less eating out, and simpler meals to boot. Less compulsive buying, or spending money on things like haircuts. It's really kind of nice.
- I was able to wean myself off antidepressants without major setbacks.
Nothing reminds you of all your weird single-person-who-lives-alone quirks like having a guest for an extended period of time. Kelli's here for the holidays and I pity her having to deal with me. I sing. A lot.
Every once in awhile I remember that someone else is here and I feel like this:
And mostly when I notice I'm singing, I've been singing this:
Merry Christmas!
Thoughts of these future events are making me happy right now:
- Hanging out with my brother and sister-in-law on Friday. One family Christmas tradition is to go see a bad movie. I'm voting for Sherlock Holmes even though I don't expect it will be bad.
- Seeing a few other friends who are in town for the next few days. It was also nice to see adjunct family who were in town last weekend.
- Moving to a new office space! Only five blocks from home, with daylight (if indirect; it's a heavily windowed interior space inside of a heavily windowed second floor loft that houses five or six other offices) It's a portion of an architect's office. I will be moving in sometime after the first week of January. The unhappy part is leaving the nice people at the space where I currently work.
- Spending New Year's Eve with M-----l (plus a fews eves afterward). I usually celebrate New Year's Eve by going to sleep before 11 and being grumpy when fireworks and carousers wake me up an hour later. That might happen this year, too, but it should be more fun shared. Or maybe we'll play records.
- Meeting Crankypants and Elvis in February! I'm looking forward to spending the first half of President's Day weekend in Philadelphia with them. If Cranky can stand my company any longer than that, we may carpool to the D.C. area in time for the infamous annual Karaoke to the Death competition. I'm going for sure, and am looking forward to meeting other Voxers there. Hopefully M-----l will be part of that weekend, too.
Happy holiday wishes, dear Vox neighbors!
Zardoz Claus is checking his list. Twice.
I've got one of those stat counters hooked up to my Vox. It allows me to see which posts are getting hits and where the viewers are located. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but I assume that when it says someone in Spain is looking at my picture of Scott McCaughey's shoe, then there's actually someone in Spain looking at my picture of Scott McCaughey's shoe. (For some unknown reason, his shoe is very popular throughout the world.) I know you can get these things routed all over the place to hide your true location, but I don't get into that. As far as I'm concerned, Spain = Spain and Oman = Oman.
As Valerae recently mentioned in a post covering similar territory, there seems to be a trend where people from Middle Eastern countries trawl Vox for titillation. I've noticed over the last six months or so that about a fourth of my hits are coming from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and a mysterious place called Yemen. From what I can tell, they're not here to read my opinions on books and music. Instead, they seem to hit the same slightly suggestive images over and over again. I'm not sure what the internet is like in that part of the world, but I'd assume that their access to smut is severely limited when compared to mine. They're doing the best they can with what's available to them.
More to the point, I've decided to gather all my most popular titillating images together in one spot. That way my friends on the other side of the world won't have to waste so much time going through the 2,800+ images in my library. The attraction of some of the pictures is obvious. The popularity of others only becomes apparent when you realize I've given them misleading names like "sexy results" and "big cock" (for the watermelon and the rooster sign, respectively). But anyway, here they are all together for the first time ever. Enjoy!
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me ...
12 ships to plunder,
11 cannons firing,
10 crewmen leaping,
9 sharks a' swimming,
8 rum-filled bottles,
7 lusty wenches,
6 jolly rogers,
5 gold doubloons,
4 eye patches,
3 earrings,
2 wooden legs
and a parrot for my shoulder - Arrr!
