"I'm Healed This Month"

I really should've documented my accident/healing better, but 5 months and 3 days after the accident, the hole in my right foot is HEALED.  I had my photo taken for the "I'm Healed" bulletin board.  I have to tip my hat to the staff at the Denver Wound Healing Center, especially Dr. Ken Morgan.  Y'all are the best, but I hope that I never see you again.

Now, onward and upward with physical therapy and stuff.  I'm dreading it.

Downsizing.

After my recent accident, I finally came to grips with the fact that I need to downsize my bass rig situation. I'm essentially unable to carry/lift anything.

This Is A Test...

I recently attached my blog to my face-space, so I'm trying this out. 

I heard this one on KYEN on the way to BLC practice, and HAD to phone Ross.  You see, he/we have a demo version of one of our songs with some super-crunchy Jew's harp on it (it's one of those instruments like 'electric jug' that you don't hear often).  Magical has become a wizard when it comes to recording weird shit.  Check it out, yo:

So ready for this one....it's got LEDs, and stuff.

Dunlop Manufacturing :: Electronics :: MXR :: Bass Compressor

Chic - le freak - 1978

This one is for "mighty" Mike D:

11122010 Show Recap

Bad Luck City @ Su Teatro/Denver Civic Theatre (I'm not sure which name is technically right, but I'll stick with Su Teatro), The Exposure Music Lounge for the 2010 Denver Film Festival

Actually, the exposure part worked out pretty well for us.  We caught several film makers' interest, and met a bunch of photographers.  One guy actually asked us if we had done any scoring--I had to chime in regarding our live score for Bruce Bickford's Cas'l'.  Indeed, we have done scoring, sort of.

The lounge part was really strange--none of us like playing to a seated audience.  It's alright, though. 

I played well, and only screwed up the second verse of "An Unclean Evening"--my bass part (unfortunately) is where the cues lie for the band, so it was a little bizzare at the change.  I got distracted by the mightiness of BLC (still stunned that I'm in the band), and played a line that was more through-composed instead of rigid.  Improvisation is great, but if I'm in the cuing position, it's a bad idea.  What I did play was fucking right on, though....it seemed like I fucked the band up ever so slightly.  Apologies, y'all...

The flyer looked like this:

We looked like this (thanks Jon):

The set list was:

Accident
Widow Franes Colver
Unclean Evening
Choptank River
Rotten Mess
Girls of St. Magdalene's Parish
Night Town
Blood Trail

 The sound check setup was like this:

SRRS played a great set.  The coolest thing about the Su Teatro is that they pipe the music throughout the building and also onto the sidewalk.  You can't escape the jams, friends.  It was supercool to hear my rig as played by James.  He said that it was "totally dialed in", but I don't know about that....it was just set up so I liked it.  I actually tweaked the gain and EQ a lot last night so that I could hear it, and I wasn't killing everything else on stage.  I really want to find a 4x8" or 4x6" cabinet that's cool enough that it doesn't throw the sound far, so I get to use the PA.

09162010 Show Recap

This night was RE&COJ's first headlining show and it went fairly well. I was especially stoked by the flyer that I saw the week before at the I Can Lick Any SOB show. Check it out:

It was good to see friends at the show (Jeff, Ryan, Shannon, Tom, Jay, Charles, The Reverend).  We played fairly well and let the alien do some serious dancing during the set.  Magical and I actually pulled off some cool shit during some of Ross' solo freak-outs.

The printed set list looked like this, although we did not follow it.  Improvised set lists are my favorite thing, but having one ahead of time helps plan segues, which we pulled off, despite my drop-D problems.  Check it out:

Ross Etherton and the Chariots of Judah.

16.Septenber.2010  3 Kings Tavern

(Angel of Death/House of Gold)

Coyote

Kingdom Gonna Come

Any Port in a Storm

A Few Crummy Memories

The Best Parts of Me

Yellow Crane Tower

Best Dress

Goodnight, Everybody

3 Ounces

Enter The Drop Zone?

Here is something cool that I discovered while desperately seeking a "D-key" for my school bus bass to facilitate a transition for the show on Friday (enough prepositions?).

If I ever require going lower than D, I swear that I'll bite the bullet and get a five-string. Ross has been threatening to start tuning a half-step lower, because he likes how it loosens up the action on his T-60 (it also should simplify writing parts for horns). I'm curious as to how this new technology will work set to E♭ and D. 

I suppose that I'll have to make a phone call....

My First Setlists

I may have posted these before, but I've been digging the YouTube versions of some stuff that I don't even own anymore (tapes that got eaten, etc).

First show (bass guitar) were both intermissions at the Junior High School autumn play (which I can't recall the name of) when I was in 9th grade. The first one was this:





My next show was the last school day of the year, and I can't remember what we got through before the (lame) Boulder (Environmental) Police showed up and made us stop because they had "numerous" noise complaints. I know that these (and the above two) were on the list, though:







I'm glad that I grew out of the thrash metal, seriously....

Dos Mas...

5.5 ounces.

Roscoe Beck's Hammond B-3 simulation on bass guitar.

Roscoe Beck pretty much rules. He's currently being Leonard Cohen's musical director. I didn't know about this technique, which might prove itself to be useful live at some point if I can figure it out. It's a lot easier to just use a Hammond in the studio. Most importantly, I might be able to use one of my flangers for this, instead of letting 'em rot.

Check it out:

Holy Hell!

I've been neglecting this stuff because it's a lot easier to use my face-space from my phone. My mental health sez that I'd be better off publishing to the world.

September Will Be A Good Month

...for asshole record stores taking my dollars.

The new Grinderman sounds wicked. It seems that they're on my same page by having Robert (fuckin') Fripp guest on this stuff:

Grinderman - Super Heathen Child (with Robert Fripp) by MuteRecords

Super-stokeed (jz) about the $WAN$ record, too. Check out this shit, yo (curls my hair):

Swans - 'Eden Prison' by theQuietus

Both are masterful examples of how to do up a one chord song. Ronny Thunder Wizard also has such skill. Hail the mighty RTW, even if we're only in Denber (jz).

Two More

7.5 ounces

Wow.

David Gilmour on Stratocaster #001 for the 50th anniversary of the guitar. Dude really is a hell of a guitarist.

My New Theme Song?

I learned that talking crazy isn't a good idea, especially when dealing with the police. At least they released me before the 72 hours was up--being stripped and held against my will for 10 hours was quite enough.

Easy Money....

The "pop" song from the most tolerable version of Robert Fripp's band. Wetton ruled when he was part of Crimson. I heart the p-bass power (of the dark side).

Hey, man, is that freedom rock?

No...but that's a Robin Freedom Bass (II), though. Tommy Shannon pretty much rules. He's an awesome bass player, and grew up in (fuckin') Dumas, TX (where I turn right). He's one of my bass heroes, for sure.



This one's way tougher, though. Witness the passive power of the P-bass:



Stevie is on fire for Austin City limits, though. Hellish....


You can't touch (fuckin') Jimi in 1970, though......the solo(s) is(are) like an audio fucking orgasm, really:



After all, Jimi learned how to be frek-i from the mighty Little Richard. Noel Redding doesn't miss a beat--beautiful shit, really.

The Hook

I was trying to explain Jamerson's hook technique, but it's a lot easier to see it:

Kind of like this...

The '51 reissue really does sort of have this kind of tone.  I really like it for the COJ material live.  It's a big, fat, deep thing with a click-ey attack, if I get sloppy.  It works.  Check Kenny's out:

07312010 Show Recap

The Paris on the Platte didn't disappoint last Saturday night. Greg "doing" sound for the night was a boon to all the bands.

A French band called The Verduns opened. I know that their sound was giving Greg fits, but I really enjoyed the ukulele-esque sound of the guitar. Their set was solid. They closed with a cover of Britney Spears' "Toxic", which was really decent.

I still feel good about our set. I basically played it perfectly, which hardly ever happens. I need to figure out some way to keep my hands from sweating so much. Jason Claypool (good to see him out shooting again) and LRC (fingering out her new SLR) and some others took photos, but I haven't seen anything on the interwebs yet (will steal some content here).

The set list was:

Angel of Death (solo acapella Hank cover; amazing...not on our lists);
Coyote;
Kindgom Gonna Come;
Goodnight, Everybody;

Ross switched up the order here against our printed sheets, I think that it went as follows:

A Few Crummy Memories;
Any Port in a Storm;
Hard Road;
The Best Parts of Me;
Yellow Crane Tower (dance with the alien, bitches!);
Army of Stars; and
Your Best Dress

Of course, the Reverend completely threw down an epic set (it was his record release show after all), and I feel lucky to have been there. Aaron Collins (whom I have decided is a quite talented drunk asshole) and Alex (insert last name here) joined on keys and percussion for the finale. Brilliant. Truly. 

Hell of a good show, really.

Pretty Much Awesome.

I'm really excited about the new SWANS record. Some clips are up at the Young God Records site, but I found an interview with Gira here that includes this monster:

'Eden Prison' by Swans

Tomato #1

5.5 ounces.

I Thought That I Knew A POS Truck When I Saw One.

Our latest purchase (part of the buy out of the other company) is straight-up dangerous. I made it from just east of Erie to Longmont (barely). I think that Vic was right when he said that we should drive it off a cliff.

Disaster?

Apparently, some windiness attempted to snap the tomato experiment today. I checked on the interwebs and it might survive. Tomato number one is almost ready.

Gutless.

The 2010 Dodge Caliber with the 2.0 liter 4-cylinder that I rented in Lincoln was sort of a POS. The interior was comfortable and the Sirius radio was great, but that's about it.

Countdown is progressing...

Meanwhile...back at the ranch...I have to hold my breath and enjoy the teaser:

Ear Worm

My roommate, Chris, turned me onto 'em in the summer of zero. It was revolutionary to me at the time--picking up where DEVO left off, with swing, in a very English (Dr. Who) sort of way. Also somewhat dirty, really (the video is sort of wrong). Ann Shenton might be the greatest bass synth player ever. I'd love to model some sounds off of hers. The Thunderwizard might let me get away with such freakiness, but I'm still standoffish about such nonsense.

Add N to (X) ruled back in my daze of freedom (the least amount of responsibility possible). Check it out:



If a band acknowledges the alien, they deserve respect:



The black regent trilogy is probably the best shit that they did. I love that buzzy on the bass:



I dig that nasty cross-modulation + LFO bass on this, as well as the lead part. It totally swings. I don't know WTF is up with this video. It's all Goldfinger an' shit. Check it out:



I can't find video for "The Regent Is Dead". Audio is here.

Y'all 'ill have to dig this shit:

07022010 Show Recap

< rant>

Leave it to the batmobile to break down en route to the show. Many thanks to LRC for rescuing me (again). It seems that the automobile doesn't dig shows. This time it was a spark plug that was (apparently) not properly tightened into the cylinder head (possibly by the shop that looked at the plugs when they were fixing the water pump). For future reference, I will not be taking this car or any others to Wolfsburg Auto in Boulder. It's way too much of a coincidence to let 'em work on any car. If you pay someone $1,500 to fix a car, they ought not fuck something else up.

</rant>

Anyhow, this one was sort of a "friends" show. Mike Ricketts (an awesome drummer and extraordinary human) was in town for Coyle's wedding. Seeing the Chicago crew in town was a real treat, and meant that I got lots of hugs from drunk men. Jason made it out, too. We get along a lot better now that temperance (and a couple of good ladies) have gotten the best of us.

The "marquee" at the (mighty) 3Kings looked something like this (without the non-euclidean perspective):

I should've pirated some of the artwork. Neil has this one with the statue of liberty in a wheelchair that I'd almost buy. I still like "sexy hitler" and the nude Pinocchios, too. Once I buy a house to decorate with strange art, I'll give Neil a call.

Pink Hawks was pretty decent, and mostly fun. I can appreciate what they're doing, even if I don't have the attention span for it. It's like the Denber version of jazz rock, with trading off solos and stuff. I'd play with 'em again, even if they played too long.

Our set was short and sweet, and damn near perfect (I slipped one string because of sweaty hands, which is something to look into curing). It looked like this:

Coyote
Kingdom
Any Port in a Storm
A Few Crummy Memories
Hard Road
The Best Parts of Me
Yellow Crane Tower
Army of Stars
Your Best Dress

Ross couldn't locate his delay pedal, so he used Magical's DD-5, which wasn't the same, but worked fairly well for the "dances with aliens" freak-out.

Il Cattivo rocked. Matt warned me that it was "typical" for him. That guy's guitars always sound great, man, really. I did decide that I must be too old for rock, though. I've used up my punk points.

A Poster

Cool.

Apparently Neutral UKE Hotel is a group that covers In the Aeroplane Over the Sea in its entirety, with ukuleles. The title song still makes me tear up. It's not the same without the singing saw, but still pretty cool (and surprising) to find in my email inbox.

Check it out:

Cue Banjo

Everything I learned about farm animals I learned from The Beverly Hillbillies. One important thing that I learned was that one doesn't milk billy goats. I guess one could, and there's probably a few people that want to give goats hand jobs. I drive past this dairy every day on my commute, and I think of that every time I drive by.

Raw-milk illnesses jump to 26

Earl Scruggs rules:

Beverly Hillbillies Opening Theme - Click here for the most popular videos

Some Videos.

Connectin' The Classics (was "Rulin', Seriously.")

P.S.: That Idaho Potato Vodka isn't too bad, really. It's made this post rather epic.

I've been a long-time Geezer Butler fan. I was looking into some of the strange ambient effects he used on some of the later Black Sabbath stuff on the (mighty) TalkBass, and someone said about that stuff "I think smoking pot and channelling satan helps, too." A lot of it is the (mighty) TYCOBRAHE Iron Parachute and Pedalflanger, apparently, with some echo for good measure. Check it out:



Of course, that song was parodied by the Tap, because of the (elaborate) scenery being built in meters rather than feet. I love the Black Sabbath, but this is pretty damn funny:



"The Dark" has some of the strangeness, too:



I still think that "Lonely Is The Word" has the most tough bass guitar sound, ever. It's basically what I've been seeking for years. I think that the trick is Fender Precision Bass + tube amp:



It sort of has an earlier Steve Harris feel, I think (beautiful bass tone, too):



Crap, I totally ripped off that syncopated feel on the new BLC record. Oh well...I recently noticed that I ripped off Eminem, too, for one of Ross' tracks:



That persistent shit works, yo. We play it in a different key (G#). Leave it to Ross to write a song in some fucked-up key. Is that Mike Elizondo on that track?!? Dude is really an amazing player/producer (something that I aspire to be). He plays with Doyle Bramhall (who's a bad ass guitar player) here: