Autumn Souvenir

The terrible band Abe Vigoda

The first few years that I attended SXSW in Austin, my friends and I always made a point to make a day trip to Waterloo Records. Whenever we'd depart, we'd all hop into our rental car and furiously dive into our overflowing bags. I can clearly remember one person saying, "Good god, I just spent $350". Another classic memory was San Francisco's own Jason Smoliak quickly unwrapping Richmond Fontaine's "Lost Son" and sliding it into the CD player as we headed for Club de Ville. About two songs in there was a chorus of "this is terrible". I still laugh every time I pass that clunker on my CD shelf. I bet Smoliak does as well. The year 2000 was the one year that I went all-out at Waterloo. I recall first picking up The Magnetic Fields' "69 Love Songs" and then running around the store looking for anything that caught my eye. As I scoured the racks, I was caught by the music playing over the speakers. About three steps from the regi...

Gob Iron : Death Songs For the Living Transmit Sound, 2006

Tonight: Josh Ritter @ The Music Hall, Williamsburg

My decade-long obsession with cable news ends today. Ever since the Gore/Bush campaign began, I have been a cable news junkie. MSNBC is usually my network of choice, although CNN probably gets about 25% of my news viewing time. A few years back I was disgusted with CNN when they let go of Aaron Brown in favor of 23 hours of Anderson Cooper in a windbreaker. But the past few months, they've really outdone themselves. The additions of Tony Harris and Rick Sanchez have truly doomed any credibility that this network once had. Both men are FOX News clones, over-hyping the most basic news bite with raised voices, odd facial expressions and an American Idol-esque simplicity. These men are puppets to their corporate bigwigs and exhibit absolutely zero journalistic integrity. Toss in the gratuitous Betty Nguyen legshots and you have a network that's simply fallen to the lowest form of news coverage. And don't even get me started on that freakshow Lou Dobbs. Tonight I remove both CNN...

I have just under 15,000 songs in my iTunes library. I've attempted to cull the top 100 songs into the greatest playlist known to mankind. Here it is: Isolation : John Lennon Black Eye : Uncle Tupelo Catch You Alive : Damnations TX You and Your Sister : Chris Bell The Way : Bonnie "Prince" Billy Big Brown Eyes : Old 97's 4am : Richard Buckner Two Hearts : The Jayhawks Formula, Cola, Dollar Draft : Marah Black : Okkervil River Norwegian Wood : The Beatles Troublesome Kind : Tim Easton Poncho & Lefty : Townes Van Zandt Wrong 'Em Boyo : The Clash The Lucky One : Freedy Johnston Powderfinger : Neil Young Fuel : Damian Jurado Backstreets : Bruce Springsteen Via Chicago : Wilco Lost Cause : Beck Return of the Grievous Angel : Gram Parsons Triggers and Trash Heaps : Centro-matic Violence in the Snowy Fields : Dolorean Bled White : Elliott Smith Lip Service : Elvis Costello Tear Stained Eye : Son Volt Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues : Bob Dylan Impossible Germany : Wi...

Essential Josh Ritter Right Moves Harrisburg Girl In the War Lawrence, KS Mind's Eye Blame It On the Tetons (Modest Mouse Cover) Thin Blue Flame Snow Is Gone Me & Jiggs Empty Hearts Bright Smile The Temptation of Adam

CD sales are evaporating. Labels are dying. Artists are searching for ways to pay the bills. All of us music-loving freaks should try and find a way to help out a little bit. With yousendit, pando, and burned CDs depleting any cash via record sales, let's look for other ways to help out the artists we dig. I've decided to pick up a minimum of two t-shirts per month from bands that I think are class. This week's purchase went to Thao.

According to the suckers at Pitchfork one of these individuals is not Bonnie 'Prince' Billy

From Shake It Records: *Update for 4/23/08 * *THANKS FOR AN AMAZING RECORD STORE DAY!!!! * HOLY MOLY FOLKS!!!! This past Saturday, Record Store Day, was our busiest day EVER! In the last 2 months, we've had 4 of our 5 best non-holiday Saturday's in sales since we opened the shop. And folks aren't buying physical CDs & LPs? They are in Cincy @ Shake It! Yup, RSD was Shake It's best sales day& best karma day. That was alot of fun! We can't wait til next years'. It not only was a great day us but the diners & other retail around seemed to be busier, too. It was great to see that people "get it' & by that I mean they see the importance of not only indie record shops but indie businesses in general. Its refreshing & revitaling to see that folks value what we do & our place in the cultural landscape of the city. It was resounding clear that folks dig what we do & for us it reminds us that there is a responsibility that goes alon...

Barack Obama's campaign for the presidential nomination has revealed one absolute: the American public, as a whole, is not very smart. I've reached this conclusion based on the public's reaction to the most prominent attack ads repeatedly launched at Obama. Let's take a look at a few: 1. After being ingnored by our leaders, middle-class voters become bitter and turn to religion and guns . Was the Senator not spot on? He wasn't insulting the working class, but rather highlighting the fact that they feel disenfranchised, and as a result, focus on issues that they *can* be vocal about. As Obama said, these folks have been promised time-and-again that their economic concerns would be addressed, yet jobs continue to move overseas in droves, and the lower to middle class suffer. As a result, they turn to things that they can control: spirituality, social issues, etc. Obama was correct here. 2. Not disowning Rev. Wright over his controversial comments . In his race speech,...

Remember, the New York Times endorsed Senator Clinton for President. Like many former supporters, it sounds like they're having second thoughts.

Simply put: There is nothing Senator Clinton won't do to win. She has tossed any inkling of character out the window in her ongoing effort to destroy Barack Obama. With her campaign's livelihood hanging in the balance, the Clinton camp unleashed the Bin Laden ad. Similar to Rove and the scum on the right in 00 and 04, the subtext of the ad is that if we elect Obama, we will all die in a terrorist attack. All of us. Gone. Bin Laden will get a nuke on day one and we will all die. If she's elected, she'll catch Bin Laden within 19 seconds and we'll all be doing cartwheels on the beach. She is absolutely pathetic. She has proven time and again that she exhibits no character. I mean, she's *still* fighting for Michigan to count? As a friend said today, "Hillary claiming victory in Michigan is akin to saying that you won a marathon when you were the only runner in the contest". It's ridiculous and she plays the American public for idiots. I completely un...

The Feelies: Only Life A&M, 1988 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Echo Warner Bros., 1999

Some sporadic thoughts: -My friendships in NYC haven't subsided a bit. This week provided some of the best laughs in months. -I do not like Manhattan at all. -Despite many changes, I still absolutely love Brooklyn. -I will certainly miss Yankee Stadium, despite the moron cops. -I'm quite proud of my sister. -Thanks to DB for providing a home for the week. -I haven't listened to tunes at all this week. I need tunes. -Boy am I tired. -A diet would suit me well. -What in the world happened to Smith Street? -I missed Record Store Day. -I bet Obama wins PA. -Ok, he probably won't. -Man was that an amazing tuna melt. And finally....the West Coast now feels like home. I can't wait to get back. See you NY folks at Giants Stadium in the summer.

Truly sad news for the E Street family. Danny has played alongside Springsteen, Clarence, Steve and Max since the outset and he's the first to depart the E Street Band. I won't soon forget Danny's exuberance and charm onstage.

I made it to Yankee Stadium. Given the 3000 mile gap, I wasn't sure that I'd be able to make it out to Yankee Stadium one more time. Not only did I head out to the Bronx last night, but I witnessed a classic Yanks/Red Sox game. Yanks 15 Sox 9. Brawls abound. All photos taken with a budget camera phone.

People always seem to be comparing the two. Having lived in Brooklyn for six years and now SF for three, I do see the similarities. However, just two days back in Brooklyn has made a few differences very clear. For one, there is *far* more diversity in Brooklyn. It's actually not even close. Then again, I don't consider SF to be diverse at all. I have been in Brooklyn for a little more than a day and I've already seen so much more than San Francisco has to offer. People here are simply all over the place: different races, ages, interests, styles. It's a kaleidoscope of folks. SF is exactly the opposite. The Mission = tedious hipsters. The Marina = Hoboken-esque frat-boy sucks. Noe Valley = young, hip couples. I realize that I might sound bitter. But I'm not. I absolutely love San Francisco, but that's based primarily on the landscape, the people in my life and the small life that I've built there. However, it is absolutely *not* the mecca of diversity in the...

It's always unreal to see two of your favorite artists perform together.

More and more article are popping up that highlight the indie record store that seems to be thriving. Right here in San Francisco, we're seeing *new* record stores spring up here and there. That's right, folks are opening up stores and betting on making money on physical music product. This is a great thing. The more time I've spent buying music from eMusic and iTunes (though I'm done with the latter), the more I feel stripped away from a large part of the overall experience. We need record stores. Not just for now, but for good. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/10/nyregion/10towns.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=princeton+record+exchange&st=nyt&oref=slogin

Always questioning what's going on.

Thao : We Brave Bee Stings and All Kill Rock Stars, 2008

This is pretty major news both on the consumer front as well as the industry front. First off, this has to be eMusic's biggest score to date. They basically added the most important records from possibly the greatest rock n' roll band of all-time. "Aftermath", "Flowers", "Let It Bleed", "Between the Buttons", "Beggars Banquet" - these are unquestionably some of the greatest records ever recorded. Consumers can now legitimately buy high-quality MP3s of these masterpieces for just over $.22 per song. And for anyone who's spent a bit of time in the music business, Abkco is historically known as one of the most conservative of the old-time labels, especially when it comes to the cherished Stones catalog. With this move, the entire industry takes another babystep towards embracing the digital age. Abkco should be applauded for choosing the consumer over the bottom line. Finally a major player does so. (eMusic may have paid a mamm...

I plan on doing this just about every day going forward. Simply songs that I'm digging today. Hope you enjoy.