vEgAs!!!

This week we had the pleasure of venturing to Las Vegas and playing a show at Cirque Du Soleil's Revolution Lounge in The Mirage. Our cohorts in mayhem and music were Voxhaul Broadcast.

These pics are courtesy of Dustin and Mojo Republik (hence the massive logo in the corner). I'm pretty sure I might have gone to school with him at one time or another...this is Vegas for me - a place where everything becomes very odd, relative and strangely familiar. Anyhow, we had a great time and I'd personally like to thank Gina, John, Nicole, Heather, The Nucci's, Mark and Mike's grandma for coming out to the show.

so much love,
melissa

Frozen In Time

What if everyone around you stopped moving, frozen? See how people react here:

Frozen in Time...

- Chris

Did you even listen?

I read Maxim for the "articles", but it seems the magazine reviewed or "previewed" The Black Crowes record without even listening. Opps. If anything, now I really want to hear the Black Crowes record. Check it out...

"How is it that a magazine can review an entire album--and assign a star rating to it--without actually hearing the album?

Case in point: the “review” of Warpaint--the new album by THE BLACK CROWES--in the March issue of Maxim magazine. The writer--who has not heard the album since advance CDs were not made available--wrote what appears to be a disparaging assessment anyway, citing “it hasn’t left Chris Robinson and the gang much room for growth.”

Incredulously, the magazine gave the album a two and a half star rating--although neither the writer nor the editor could have heard more than one song (the single “Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution”).

When approached for an explanation, the magazine described the review as “an educated guess preview.” Huh?

Black Crowes manager Pete Angelus says, “Maxim's actions seem to completely lack journalistic integrity and intentionally mislead their readership. When confronted with the fact that they never heard the album they are claiming to 'review’ in their music section--with a star rating, no less--they attempt to explain that it was an 'educated guess.' In an email correspondence, Maxim went on to state: ‘Of course, we always prefer to (sic) hearing music, but sometimes there are big albums that we don’t want to ignore that aren’t available to hear, which is what happened with the Crowes. It’s either an educated guess preview or no coverage at all, so in this case we chose the former.’”

Angelus continued, “It speaks directly to the lack of the publication’s credibility. In my opinion, it’s a disgrace to the arts, journalism, critics, the publication itself and the public. What’s next--Maxim's concert reviews of shows they never attended, book reviews of books never read and film reviews of films never seen?” - Chris

INFLUENCES! - Neil Young

More info. to come







Apparently Neil Young invented the 'grunge' look before the term even existed. Late 70's concert footage. Not the most flattering but still sounds awesome...

CLEAN AIR CLEAR STARS

These people are doing some really great things and have some great music tastes.

Click to find out more...

Sex Sells!!!

thought the lovers of obama might enjoy this one...melissa

Michael McDonald

Given that Michael McDonald has been the subject of recent humor in comedy series such as "30 Rock," "Family Guy," and even the film "The 40 Year Old Virgin," it would only be fair to highlight one of the earliest such incidents. Here is Harry Shearer portraying the silky, silver-bearded godfather of "smooth" in a sketch from SCTV.

-Nick

Photo from desert trip. Rob

INFLUENCES! Tom Waits

It would be cliche to say Tom Waits is one of the most interesting and original musicians to ever set foot on this Earth but its true.

Rain Dogs is exceptional and so is a lot of his later work.

BAGEL RADIO PARTY @ Bottom of The Hill. Photos

Chris Rock and Super Tuesday

Chris Rock's comment to a reporter when asked if America was ready for a black president, "We were obviously ready for a retarded president, so why wouldn't we be ready for a black president?"

Hopefully you got out and voted yesterday (if you lived in those states), and expressed your opinions. - Chris

Broken Foot...

After our show Saturday night, a road case dropped on my foot. No big deal, walked it off, hung out some more, and went home. But the next morning, when I realized if I wanted to make it to the living room, I was going to have to crawl, something probably wasn't good. After spending the entire day waiting around in the Emergency Room, the doctor finally came back in and said "well, I have never seen this before, but you fractured your (insert medical mumbo jumbo here)." Luckily it doesn't seem to require a massive boot, but if they change their minds, I'm thinking about asking for this fury red one. - Chris

Give this man a hug!!!

While there are many perks to being in a band, there are also many a non-perk. One big one for me is having to be at a venue at 7pm for a sound check that never happens and then having to wait around until 12:45am to play. One such gig happened recently for us but we did have the pleasure of meeting a random funny man who stumbled upon us while we waited in the “green room.” The band and band posse were hanging out on our gear, drinking to help pass the time when out of nowhere he appeared -a gay Paul Rodriguez in purples and greys. I have no idea what he said but at the time is was absolutely divine and brought many a smile to the room. If one night you’re stumbling around Echo Park and happen to see this man, just give him a big hug. If not for you, well then for me...melissa

WAREHOUSE PARTY! This Saturday. ALL AGES

This is an ALL AGES party near downtown. There will be lots of live music, DJ's, live video screen/video artist, cheap drinks, tons of fun. Tell all your friends...

ALL AGES BAGEL RADIO PARTY @ Bottom of The Hill. SF

From the San Francisco Bay Guardian...

BAGeL Radio Birthday Celebration

Just what some Web-savvy indie rock fans were looking for

By Dina Maccabee

PREVIEW When musicphile Ted Leibowitz got into Internet broadcasting in 2003, he never imagined that BAGeL Radio, which started out as a list of shows — the Bay Area Gig eList — would be reaching listeners in more than 100 countries within a year of going online. What he did know, ever since he bought his first Blondie record at age 11, was what he liked, and it turned out his taste was just what some Web-savvy indie rock fans were looking for. When he won the CMJ's Specialty Music Director of the Year award, a nod normally reserved for people on the airwaves, he finally admitted he was onto something real.

When I asked the man behind BAGeL how he distinguishes outstanding new artists from the pack, he was quick to answer, "A terrific verse, a terrific chorus, and a terrific verse." He was especially enthusiastic about the lineup for Jan. 1's fifth-anniversary show, three bands that back their lyrics with creative new sounds. Peloton, whose name derives from bicycle racing, recall Stereolab with melodic, complex guitarscapes and innocent-girl vocals. Lemon Sun crunch together a retro rock sensibility and a slamming backbeat, what Leibowitz imagines as the result if "T-Rex had happened during the disco era." Openers Audio Out Send, whom he calls "slow burning, Radiohead-y, and cerebral," round out the set with glitched-out introspection from Oakland. Spend an evening under Leibowitz's musical wing — millions of online listeners do, every day.

BAGEL RADIO BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION With Peloton, Lemon Sun, and Audio Out Send. Fri 2/1, 10 p.m., $10. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. (415) 621-4455, www.bottomofthehill.com

MURAKAMI EXHIBIT (almost over) - Click Images below for details/info.

INFLUENCES! The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses were one of the most impactful bands to come out of The Manchester (or 'Madchester') scene. Heavily influencing such Brit pop phenomenons as Oasis and Blur (amongst others). They had a unique marriage of 60's psychedelic pop and dance-able rhythms. Their first, s/t album is a renowned classic. They followed it up with only one record and disbanded. They are still very influential to many independent artists today and often included in lists of best albums of all time.

In this live video for "Made of Stone" you can see Ian Brown's temper being tested when the TV station has a power out in the middle of their song.


This one is a more flattering video for "Waterfall"

Gary Larson

REMINDER

Don't Forget to vote. If you aren't registered for CA

CLICK HERE

Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.
--George Jean Nathan (1882-1958)

My trip to Costa Rica January 3rd to 15th

So I’ve been trying to think of cool stuff to write about my trip for our blog and have been having trouble summing it up into a nice, cohesive blurb. I had an amazing trip and it couldn’t have come at a better point in my life. It’s nice to go somewhere new - away from email, cell phones, work, time and daily routines. It renews the soul and gives your “normal” life more meaning and significance upon returning. The people and land of Costa Rica are a gracious, generous, gorgeous and gobbagobba grandiose bunch (how’s that for alliteration on some bad grammatics?). I’ve included details and pics of some of the highlights from my trip below. Read on young soldiers…

Culprits: Baby Luhver (Joyce), Zjah (Aja Blue), BL (me, MD) and Traveling Husband (Joseph). Towns visited - Alajuela, Manuel Antonio, Jaco.

The over top house that we stayed at. Three palatial stories with wrap around patio decks, 360 degree views, a pool, endangered monkeys traveling through the “yard“ every afternoon around 4PM, in house geckos, toads that actually sounded like the ones on that Budweiser commercial from way back when, toilets that only accept human matter (uhuh, throw that paper into the trash can) - all smack dab in the middle of the rain forest. Amazing!

A stray dog that befriended Joyce and I when went out for our morning hike - we all (me, Joyce, dog…I know it‘s improper English but this is how I roll sometimes - English degree and all) instantly fell in love. Joyce called him Alaska,, I called him Dakota, Aja called him Nevada, the house keeper called him Shoo-Away-Never-Come-Back (in Spanish, por supuesto). He would come up to the house every afternoon to visit us and the house keeper kept shooing him away. This dog had no fear - he would walk on our third story roof, lead the hike, and, most importantly, eat all the yucky meat that was in our fridge (go veggie!). We miss you ole pup and hope that you’re well!!!

Costa Rican fresh fruit and RUM! Fresh pineapple, coconut, mango, papaya…I challenge you to find a more perfect thing to drink in 90 degree weather with 90% humidity?!? Sofia - my dance partner in rum punch mayhem!

Snorkeling! I love the fishies, the quiet of being underwater, the beautiful coral reefs, realizing how miniscule you are in the great abyss, the bottomless rum punch provided by our wonderful catamaran hosts - Juan and very cute man crew. I think there was free food too but can’t really remember?!

Blockhead! There’s not a lot of nightlife in Manuel Antonio so most evenings we got creative at the house. Joey, Aja and myself were able to break into the moldy game room. I mostly hate games - board games, football games, card games, head games - however I must admit that I did enjoy me some Blockhead. It's a more colorful and shapely version of that game we have here called Chenga or Changa or Chingy?!? Isn’t it funny how when you go south things always seem to get more colorful and shapely? The idea - make a tower of some sort by using weird shaped wooden blocks and try not to knock the darn thing over in turn wrecking the party for everyone else . Enlightening is it? A real brain bender of a game or perhaps it was the little rum sipper I nibbled on that made me feel slightly bent. Ah Ron Rico!

Our day of waterfalls and the cloud forest. Ever stood under a waterfall?! It's really loud. What more can I say?!

The amazing hippie jazz/jam session in Alajuela. Joyce has lots of family in Alajuela, a town close to San Jose. Her family is amazing and warm and they all go out of there way to make you feel at home. Joyce’s little cousin Sofia has a good friend named Bernal, a truly amazing guitar player and the spitting image of Antonio Banderas 20 years ago. I always bring a little guitar when I travel and so we were able to have a pre-jam, jazz jam. We swapped tunes - Wes Montgomery for Blue Bossa, Pat Methany for early Yes. I love the “jazz” jam…makes my brain hurt and my fingers work!

Later on in the evening Sofia had a bunch of people over to her house. She casually mentioned that she plays drums so when we got there she of course proceeded to make trip after trip to her room, pulling out drum after drum. This girl’s got drums! All kinds - congas, bongos, djembes, talking drums, finger drums…you name she’s probably got it. Aja was all over that stuff! You could not get her off the drums…4 hours of amazingness! Joyce was pretty steady on tambourine as well. Many a drum was hit, many a beer was drunk, many a note was played. A beautiful evening indeed and wonderful send off to a fabulous trip.

Pura vida Costa Rica...melissa

ROBBERS ON HIGH STREET

Our good friend and director mastermind Jason Argyropoulos just finished up a video for New York band Robbers on High Street. The labor intensive video took a couple months to complete, but was worth the wait. Now the technical stuff...To achieve the "animation" effect in the stop motion video, the band was first shot on a black back drop. Then each frame of film was cut out by hand and projected onto the set with the city, trees, etc. Using a single frame film camera, a "snap shot" was taken of the projected band member. For each second of the video, 12 snap shots had to be taken and the compiled together like a cartoon / animation. Now check it out for yourself and see the effect in action.

Sad News - Talented actor Heath Ledger found dead of overdose.

CLICK PHOTO FOR FULL STORY

INFLUENCES! Wilco

From the ashes of alt. country greats Uncle Tupelo, is the stunning ensemble, Wilco. Fronted by the earnest and captivating Jeff Tweedy. Despite Tweedy's struggle with depression and mental stability, their music is hopeful and generally has an uplifting quality. Few bands today make such relevant and intriguing music. "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" and "A Ghost is Born" are 2 of their more revered and magnificent works.

Recommendations - Check out brilliant documentary film "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" about the making of "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot"!

Wilco "Jesus, Etc." (video/collage)

Casualties in Iraq

There have been 4,210 coalition deaths -- 3,904 Americans, two Australians, 174 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, one Czech, seven Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 33 Italians, one Kazakh, one Korean, three Latvian, 22 Poles, three Romanians, five Salvadoran, four Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians -- in the war in Iraq as of January 17, 2008, according to a CNN count.

Friend's Video (Voxhaul Broadcast)

We're doin' a bunch of shows with these guys! Great band... Fun video...

Gary Larson

TOM CRAZE

TOM CRUISE on SCIENTOGOLOGY <<< link

INTERESTING ARTICLE (from www.slate.com)

The Trouble With Indie Rock. It's not just race. It's class.

By Carl Wilson
Posted Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007, at 5:53 PM ET The Arcade Fire

New Yorker pop critic Sasha Frere-Jones has often indicated boredom and annoyance with a lot of the critically acclaimed, music-blog, and/or NPR-approved "indie rock" of this decade. This week, in an article, a couple of blog entries, and a podcast, he tries to articulate why. His answer? It's not black enough; it lacks "swing, some empty space and palpable bass frequencies"; it doesn't participate lustily in the grand (and problematic) tradition of musical "miscegenation" that's given American music, especially rock 'n' roll, its kick.

TO READ THE REST CLICK THE PHOTO ABOVE TO LINK

GREAT BAND

DR. DOG! Check 'em out!

INFLUENCES! - Al Green

The Reverand! His music speaks for itself. One of the most wonderful and original singers in popular music. "Let's Stay Together" and "I'm Still In Love With You" are arguably his best albums but he releases great work today and still gives fantastic live performances.

Interesting info...
(Thanks Wikipedia) On October 18, 1974, Mary Woodson, a longtime friend of Al Green, assaulted him, then killed herself. It is believed that she ardently wished to be more than just a friend to Al Green. One night, she left the guest quarters, then entered the main section of the house without permission. She sneaked into his bathroom to make a surprise attack. With no warning whatsoever, she threw a large pot of sticky boiling grits over him as he was undressed and preparing to shower. As Al Green writhed in pain, she ran into another part of the house and committed suicide by shooting herself.

"Tired Of Being Alone"

DAVE CHAPPELLE before & after

Gift Ideas...

Click on IMAGE to learn more

He's My Brother She's My Sister

Click on photo to link to myspace page.

My sister and I (and a growing amount of other friends) have started a side project. Come check it out and if you like it, add us as a friend! Thanks

Rob

QUOTES

A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.
- Galileo Galilei

"They might try to assassinate me. I have prepared my family and my loved ones for any possibility."
- Benazir Bhutto, talking to newspaper before her return to Pakistan in October. She was assassinated on December 27.

Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue with that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first - rock and roll or Christianity.
- John Lennon

A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.
- Mohandas Gandhi

"The same folks that are bombing innocent people in Iraq were the ones who attacked us in America on September the 11th."
-George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., July 12, 2007

FUN GAME

If you want a fun game to play with a bunch of friends try this one...