browsing all posts in "tidbits"

i go out walking

detroit cobras @ bottom lounge, 2011-06-02

The internet is a weird and wonderful place, you guys. Almost all of these bullet-like points have long and convoluted backstories that I’m skipping, and then I was going to say something like, “let’s talk about ladybusiness!” except fuck that. Let’s talk about rock & roll. This is a really rambly grab-bag of a post; you’ve been warned.

1. I have absolutely no idea why, but I went to see The Detroit Cobras last week. They are a five-piece garage rock band from Detroit, and I don’t know if I went because Vic Victor of the Koffin Kats listed them as a good Detroit band or because they’re on Bloodshot, but either way, I am super glad I went.
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who came along for the ride

On Wednesday, I will be moving the RSS feed of this blog over to feedburner. I have absolutely no idea how many people subscribe, and I have absolutely no idea if those people will be fucked if I just change the address in my settings, so I am giving you some advance notice. I think there are two of you. Min and Terry, UPDATE YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS. The new address will be:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/newsprint-fray

I did some other stuff, too, since I seem to be updating this blog with something that approaches regularity. For example, I put back the buttons that allow you to share posts on spaceface, and I fixed a bug in the navigation, and I upgraded my wordpress install, which I had to do by hand because of some memory error. So that’s all shiny and great. I also killed categories and am just using tags, because I just could not handle trying to figure out what the difference was and what it should be blah blah blah. TAGS, motherfuckers, it’s the only way.

Not much else to report. Another review and soundtrack should be out pretty soon, and then I have these two irritating books on hardcore to complain about, and I just ordered another slew of books to read/review. I haven’t done reviews of biographies, but maybe I will? I may also start doing blurbs on the documentaries I watch, since I don’t watch anything else anymore. (Most recently, a terrible direct-to-youtube one called Welcome to Sammytown, in which somehow the guy who murdered his girlfriend is the most sympathetic person there. Everyone else says shit like, “Oh, yeah, Sam totally killed that girl, but he’s not a murderer! He’s got a heart! Murderers have that stone look in their eyes!” PROTIP, DOUCHEBAG: YOU BECOME A MURDERER BY MURDERING SOMEONE.) But I could put up short paragraphs of a few documentaries at a time, starting with Welcome to Sammytown and that one about Johnny Thunders that made me want to slit my wrists.

I also have a stack of new albums to listen to and review except I keep listening to the Misfits instead. No shows this week, but next week is John Doe (I can’t even think about that one too much or I will freak myself out) and then the Rural Alberta Advantage. I’m still mad at them about their video, but they put on a hell of a live show, so I’m looking forward to it.

if only some rain would fall

Last night, I finally made it to see Gauge, a post-hardcore band from the Chicago suburbs that was active in the early 90s. I have a bunch of friends who came out of that scene (I wasn’t here yet) who have been trying to get me to a Gauge show since they started playing again, in 2009 (15 years after their breakup); this was the first one I was able to make.

It felt a little strange, because it was basically a birthday party for Kevin Frank, the guitarist (pictured!); I think he knew pretty much everyone there, and he was in all four bands that played. At one point, they made him sit in a chair and his wife came up and they slammed through “Rise Above” instead of “Happy Birthday.” Then they brought a guitar-shaped cake. So for me, not really part of it, it felt odd, but it was fun to watch, the atmosphere was good, and the whole night was musically excellent. Good times!

[My photo experiments continue to mostly fail. I like the one above, and I have a handful more that are okay, but it's just too dark at small shows for my camera to do a decent job. But I think I have an idea for next time, so we'll see.]

In news related to earlier posts:

• Here are some photos from the Pogues show, not taken by me.
• Deep Dark Woods played a daytrotter session that you should download and listen to.
• If you give Juniper Tar your email address, they will send you a link to download their first album. Free music, hooray!