MinneapolitanMusic

Do you wanna hear something good? How about something introspective, quiet, and expertly crafted to make you go "huh, that song is about me" and tear up a little bit? Ok, me too. Let's go here: Martin Devaney's MySpace page.

Click on the song "Outside Looking In," which just happens to be my favorite track on his last album, La Mancha. It's one of those songs that is perfect for listenening to on my MP3 player (no, I don't have an Ipod, I have a Creative Zen Micro because they actually work and don't break all the time) on the bus on the way to work in the morning when all I feel like doing is staring out the window pensively and reflecting on life. Now, not only can I listen to the song while I am at work (where I am significantly less pensive but still enjoy a good moody tune at my desk), but he has a new version of the song on his MySpace page that is longer and has Jessy Greene on violin and Brian O'Neil from Big Ditch Road playing pedal steel. It is so beautiful, I love it!

There's also a song called "One For the Road" that you should check out, a rough preview track from his upcoming album.

Another item of interest that I found today was a band called This World Fair. There was a CD review of them in the City Pages today, so I sauntered over to their MySpace page (I think MySpace is proving to be an interesting website after all, if only for the free music samples) and listened to a few of their tracks... sounds good so far. Of course, I am a huge sucker for any band that features piano prominently, but what can I say? The lyrics are interesting too. I am going to try to catch them live sometime in the near future.

Oh, and I know I promised not to bring this up again, but today is the very last day of NaNoWriMo and I had almost given up, but then my darling husband gave me a huge kick in the ass and motivated me to try to finish anyway. If I can write 11,500 words today I will still win (not entirely impossible as I wrote 9,000 last night, totally surprising myself). So don't give up on me yet.

So as to be consistant, you can now find pretty much everything related to me as my online alias MinneapolitanMusic. For example, I set up my flickr photo page with a permanent address and matching ID name:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/minneapolitanmusic/

Or you can find me on myspace:

http://www.myspace.com/minneapolitanmusic/

Pretty hot, huh?

I accidentally created a MySpace page today, then decide to roll with it and see what happens. Only problem is, I don't really know how to work the page and what the purpose is. So far I have one generic friend guy who is automatically everyone's friend when they make a page. Silly! If anyone has any MySpace advice please let me know.

Is it weird that I am looking forward to returning to school? Because I am really excited about it. I am taking a technical writing class, something about web design and one for researching the internet. I am pretty sure they will all be easy classes but I have to get them out of the way before I can take things like screenwriting and prose and the fun stuff. I still don't really know what I am hoping to accomplish with all of the schooling, but my goal is to somehow be able to write for a living, and in an ideal world I would be writing about music because that is my favorite thing to do. In an unideal world I would get stuck writing some sort of dry boring technical crap for a large corporation that kills bunnies for fun. I am hoping for the first one.

I somehow forgot that riding the bus in the winter would mean that I would also have to stand outside and wait at the bus stop in the blistering cold. Brr. At least I don't have to drive in the craptastic traffic like all of those suckers!

Huzzah! I am still attempting to master this whole publishing pictures via my blog thing, so I am using this little guy as a test. Thanks for enduring my low-fi technical abilities.

For your reading pleasure, please tune to howwastheshow for my new review, just posted today, of Coach Said Not To and Robert Skoro. Note how Mark Mallman was very cleanly removed from the review, so as to not upset the masses with my inexplicable distaste for him.

Today I got to order a CD from Dan Israel via inter-office mail, as we both hold down day jobs as state employees. I found this to be extremely amusing, and I look forward to receiving the new record.

Speaking of new records, I just received a package from local band Reticence, with their first ever recorded material, and after a first listen I am starting to really dig these guys. You can go here to hear samples of a few of their tunes. I highly recommend the song "Up Up Down Down," if only for the killer chorus: "Up up, down down, left right, left right, B, A, Select, Start." Any kid from the 80's who was armed with an original Nintendo will get this. I almost peed my pants I was so excited. In all seriousness, though, they put out a great sound, sometimes driving, sometimes touchy-feely indie-rock with the aforementioned kick-ass original lyrics. Really looking forward to their upcoming show, at which time I will put together a more mature and journalistic review that doesn't include the phrases "kick-ass" and "peed my pants."

There is an excellent Radio Homegrown program this week, featuring Dan Israel and Luke Zimmerman, who both have CD release parties this week. The program airs at 10:00 on Sundays on Drive 105. Why am I telling you this now, you ask, since the program is airing as I type? Ah, it's because there is a podcast of the show available online at the Radio Homegrown website. Check it! You should also go see Dan Israel this weekend at his CD release party on Saturday at the Turf Club and then tell me how it was, since I will be out of town.

There should be a review up on the HWTS site soon of the Robert Skoro and Coach Said Not To show that I attended Friday night. You may have noted to yourself that this was also a show that Mark Mallman headlined, and how could I leave that part out? Well, let me tell ya - and I will probably get lynched for this because this whole town appears to be in love him - but I can't stand the guy. In fact, in my mind Mark Mallman symoblizes a lot about what is wrong with all the politics that surround music. I mean, doesn't he know that it's cool to be all ultra-sensitive and self depracating these days? In all seriousness though, I really don't care for his music at all, nor his pompous attitute, and I don't really get what all the fuss is about. Just my opinion. Please don't kill me.

That's about all for now. Ralph the cat has claimed my arm as his new bed and therefore typing is becoming difficult. More to come soon!

Here are the talented ladies of local band Coach Said Not To, one of my new favorite bands. Annika Johnson (new drummer), Linnea Mohn (bass), Eva Mohn (guitar, vocals) and Lee Violet (keyboards).

I forgot to take pictures at the Ike Reilly show, so here is one from the Andrea archives instead. This picture was taken at one of my first Ike Reilly concerts at the Turf Club in the summer of 2001 (during a four-night stand at the club) with local music critic and personal hero Jim Walsh.

Wednesday night was an epic night for local music lovers, with a good local band playing practically every venue in town. Read up on David de Young's blah blah blog for a photo run-down of the night.

I personally attended the First Ave show with Little Man, Trampled by Turtles, and Ike Reilly, all of whom I happened to have reviewed in the last two months.

Little Man was fantastic, their sweet electric rock and roll music was definitely rich enough to fill the space of the main room. I really enjoy the new line-up, with bassist Ben Foote and drummer Ryan Otte backing up Chris Perricelli. The trio seems to complement each other well, and Perricelli really stood out with his dead-on vocals and wailing guitar solos.

Next up was Trampled by Turtles, who I just saw a few weeks ago at the Cabooze in an obnoxiously crowded performance. Because I knew the crowd would probably get on my nerves, I headed upstairs with my friend Andy and hung out in the bar for a while. Check out a picture here of us upstairs at First Ave.

Ike Reilly played an extremely long set, though at times I thought his voice was faltering. During my favorite Ike tune, "Commie Drives a Nova," for example, he goofed on the rap phrases, something I had never heard him slip up on before. I was also mildly irritated by the crowd, as a fight broke out right next to me and people became more and more pushy as the set wore on. Eventually I gave up and retreated to the back, grabbing a table and watching the rest of the show free from the confines of the crowd. Maybe - and now I am treading carefully here because I consider myself a huge Ike fan - maybe I have seen him too many times over the last four years. Maybe I selfishly wish that Ike was back at the Turf Club where it was more of a personal experience; maybe it's hard for me to share him with masses of people who seem so unappreciative of his talents. Either way, this show was less fulfilling for me than the usual Ike performance, and I found myself itching to leave by the end. Here's to hoping that he goes back to play the Turf Club again someday, treating all of his old fans.

I forgot to bring my camera into First Ave, so like an idiot I have no pictures of the evening. Oops!

This morning I woke up at 2:30 a.m. I usually go to bed later than that on the weekends. I went and stood in an incredibly long line at Best Buy and got a sweet deal on a new laptop. It was one of the crazier things I have done, and Kristen was nice enough to come along with me and keep me company. I think I had better buy her a drink tonight....

More reviews to be up soon!

Minnesota Blog of the Day. Holla!

Here are some interesting things I have found online lately. I have discovered that vast amounts of time can slip away quickly by reading online blogs and other electronic publications. I have not determined yet whether this is positive or negative. I love the internet. I also love making lists about things on the internet.

• If you are an 89.3 The Current fan like myself, you will enjoy the new website 893Archive. If you click on the "by track" listing it shows which songs get the most airplay, which I find to be quite fascinating.

• There is a new print and online "culture and lifestyles magazine" in the works for the Twin Cities area, which looks to be called mspgrid.org. So far there is nothing on the website but I found this Craig's List posting advertising for new freelance writer positions.

• The Twin Cities area is still holding on to 2nd place nationally for NaNoWriMo achievement. I swear to god this will be the last time I talk about NaNo until it is over (7 days, ahhh!). You can view my profile here.

That's all for now. I am preparing for a jam-packed concert weekend and should have some fresh live reviews up both here and at howwastheshow.

Happy Overeating, Pheromone-Induced Stupor, Thank God for Canned Cranberries Day! (don't you just love those little ridges around the end of the cylindrical gob of goo? yum!)

I am a horrible horrible writer. Total crap is spewing out of me at incredible rates (no, not like that, sicko). I am totally and completely worthless.

In other words...I am nearing the end of NaNoWriMo. And I am behind. Wayyy behind.

You may have started to think that I stopped posting my word count simply to spare you the boring details of this maddening pursuit for glory. But you would be wrong. In fact, I haven't made any headway on the damn thing for over a week now, and it is because I suck!

Ahh @$$^###0*!

Ok. I feel a little better. Thank you, blog, for being my trustworthy fluffy feather pillow that I sink my angry fists into when I hit a brick wall of frustration.

Thank god tomorrow is the day of glory. The day where every good band in town is playing a live show. Hi-yah! Check out David de Young's roadmap to success for seeing as many shows as possible in one exhaustive evening on his blah blah blog. I have chills just thinking about getting done with work tomorrow and starting my fantastic voyage.

I received a package in the mail from a band called Electropolis, a local electro-quartet led by Michael Ferrier. Inside, there was a copy of their self-titled CD and a DVD entitled "Electropolis plays Metropolis," a really...um, interesting, remastered edition of the old silent film Metropolis set to a soundtrack by the band.

So far, I have to say that these guys take the cake on weirdness. They definitely have a very unique sound, and I am trying to put my finger on exactly what it is. The band is made up of an electrosax (played by Ferrier), an electrobass (Michael O'Brien), electrumpet (Kelly Rossum) and non-electric drums (Steve Roehm). Their sound is very reminiscent of Kid A sans moody Thom Yorke vocals, and in that regard I have a hard time calling them innovative.

The music wanders around, dabbling in different sounds that can be made with the aforementioned instrumentation. Unfortunately, after about three tracks, the novelty wears off and I am left to piece together what the band is trying to express with these sounds.

Let's see what the Pulse had to say about Electropolis:

Full marks for ambition, guys...they’ve released a slinky, spooky out-there disc so you can take their misshapen electronic/acoustic grooves home with you. A mix of improvised and pre-arranged compositions, Electroplis’ self-titled debut is in the vein of exploratory-yet-groovy fare like David Fiuczynski’s Screaming Headless Torsos, Medeski Martin and Wood’s classic Friday Afternoon in the Universe or the Twin Cities own Fantastic Merlins...It’s moody, atmospheric stuff that knows when to strut and when to break ankles, the kind of thing that would be great as the soundtrack to … oh, I don’t know … a German expressionist silent movie. What? They already did that? Awesome.

Thank you, Steve McPherson. Your insights are always appreciated by me.

I hear that writing soundtracks to old movies is like, all the rage these days (i.e. Spaghetti Western), and I give them "props" for being on the edge as far as that goes. And the music is interesting to listen to, I just don't forsee it having a lot of staying power.

I guess I will know for sure when I review their upcoming show, which is December 5 at Intermedia Arts. Until then, I will be here, trying to determine if this music is going over my head or if it just plain doesn't make sense.

So much going on today, where to begin...

I donated blood this morning for the first time, making it the second week in a row that I allowed a stranger to shove a needle in my arm and didn't pass out. Aren't you proud of me? They even gave me a sticker to wear that instructs people to be nice to me. I did get scolded for not eating breakfast though, and was forced to consume several oreos before they stabbed my arm.

Saturday was Mark's birthday so I threw him a surprise party. He claimed not to be surprised but I think he secretly was. He knew we were supposed to go over to his mom's house for dinner that night, so we hid all of his friends in his old bedroom and instructed him to go retrieve a chair from the room. It was great fun. There were flashing lights and explosions from these 99 cent confetti things that Kristen and I found at Party City. Afterwards we all got drunk at the Red Dragon. Hooray! Hopefully I can get some pictures from Kristen, as I was too "out of it" to find my camera even though it was in my purse the whole time.

This week is the best week ever. I only have to work for three days, I get to eat a bunch, and there are sooo many good concerts. Here are my top picks:

• Wednesday: Ike Reilly, Trampled by Turtles, and Little Man (what a lineup!) at the annual Thanksgiving-eve show at First Ave, music starts at 9 p.m.
• Thursday: You shouldn't be at any concerts. Go spend time with the fam!
• Friday: Robert Skoro w/ Mark Mallman at Triple Rock, 9 p.m.
• Saturday: Damian Marley, X Clan, Brother J, First Ave, 6 p.m.

I have fallen horribly behind in my novel writing! What will I ever do? I want so badly to just get it done with, so I hopefully will be able to get going again. I am still lingering at about the half-way point (shame on me!).

I hope to get back in the swing of things this week, I haven't done much in the way of being productive creatively and haven't even reviewed a show for like, over a week, man!

You scored as Borderline Personality Disorder. Congratulations! You have BPD! ... rational emotions? Who needs 'em! Borderline Personality Disorder 50% Unipolar Depression 42% Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder 33% Antisocial Personality Disorder 0% Eating Disorders 0% Schizophrenia 0% Which mental disorder do you have? created with QuizFarm.com

Well, I think it's about that time for the cold greyness of winter to set in and start dragging me down. I have been feeling more tired than usual and ever since the damn snow hit I haven't written anything. Anything! Not in my novel anyway, which is what counts the most right now. Stupid snow and it's stupid depressive effect on my stupid psyche....

Apparently my Atmosphere "review" (if you can call it that) has created somewhat of a stir with people, which I enjoy. MNSpeak knows who I am! How exciting. And here I was thinking about doing a boring old play-by-play of the concert. I do have to add, however, that he played the same set two nights in a row, the only let down as far as I was concerned. Oh - and he didn't play "Guns and Cigarettes," that bastard. I still love him though.

I'm trying to decide if I should go out tonight, a few shows that may be worth checking out:

• The Blind Shake, Big V's (a good write up of them in City Pages)
• Detroit Cobras, Triple Rock
• The Asylum Street Spankers (nice name) w/ AC, Lee's Liquor Lounge

I may just sit and home and stare at my computer monitor, trying to squeeze out the tiny bit of creativity that is congealing in my brain right now. It's a toss up.

In case there are any rich people out there just itching to buy me an expensive Christmas present, here is what I am currently lusting after. I know, I know, you are thinking, "but you don't even play bass," and you are mostly right, except for those few blues scales I learned to play a few years ago and my deep deep desire to be like Cassandra in Wayne's World some day.

A picture of my boyfriend, er, I mean Slug greeting the audience toward the end of Wednesday night's set. Click on the photo to be directed to Flickr, where I uploaded about five other photos from that night. I think I may have rocked out a little too hard because now it feels like I have the flu. Alas.

Things that are good about today:

1. My blog looks nice. Although I can't get my picture to work in my profile. Perhaps I can solicit Demian's help when we visit him in Chicago.
   
2. I survived getting a flu shot yesterday, and didn't throw up or die.
3. I get to see Atmosphere again tonight.

Things that suck about today:

1. Because of the Atmosphere show last night, I got four hours of sleep.
2. It is blustery and cold outside (as well as in my apartment actually, because we forgot to put the storm windows in).
3. Being cold and tired hurts.

And now, for your reading pleasure, the rest of this post will be narrated by a sixteen year old hollaback girl.

Dude, you should have, like, totally been at the Atmosphere show. It was so dope. It was like doper than that one dwarf from Snow White. What was his name? Oh yeah, Dopey. Me and my gerr-friends got there super early so we could try to get a spot up front and I was all like, "yo, I gotsta see Slug up close and personal," know what I mean? And so we elbowed our way up to the stage and I was like, "yo, who dis guy up here rappin' now?" And some guy turned around and he was like, "girl, that is P.O.S." And I was like, "piece of shit?" and then I laughed because I was so damn clever. The P.O.S. dude ended up bein' pretty swank, and he was all like "get yo' hands up," and you best be knowin' my hands were way up in the ay-er!

So then like some other band came on and it was some angry dude and he be rappin' all fast and loud, and it wasn't really very dope at all. But then me and my gerr-friends started screamin' and hollerin' cause it was almost time for Slug to come out! And we all think he is fiiine, what a hottie.

I think we mighta screamed a little too much for some of the lame-ass people there cause the guy in front of me turned around again and he was all, "why you gotsta scream so much?" and I was like, "cause Slug is my man, yo, he is the dopest guy, like, ever," you know? And then he was all, "why you talkin' like a gangsta?" and I was like, "how you know I'm not?" and one of my gerr-friends patted me on the back because I am so damn clever. So he was all like, "because you're just a little white girl from the suburbs," and I was all up in his face with a big ol' "oh no you dih-ent," and I was waving my finger in front of my face tellin' him that I lived on like the very outer edge of Roseville and it was practically the city anyway and who did he think he was? And I was just about to bitch slap his ass when Slug came out and I threw up my hands and got ready for Slug to throw down.

Slug played a mad set, yo. Mad. He played for like, two hours, which was like, pretty much the coolest thing ever. I got to show everyone just how dope I am cause I knew like, all the words, and I be screamin' em at the top of my lungs along with Slug the whole time. I swear he saw me singing along, and he like, totally looked right into my eyes, yo! He had a killer band too, and like I think someone said that his brother was playin' guitar, and that guy was pretty dope. Then Ant came out, and I was all, "Ant you're the man!" cause he totally is.

When we had been rappin' and wavin' our hands for a long-ass time Slug leaned down and he was all, "thank you Minnesota," and he like totally meant it you know, you could see it in his eyes. He's like, from here and everything, so you can tell he like totally loves playing here.

Did I mention he is a hottie? Damn.

And then he played like, the dopest song ever, off of that CD that came out before the one that just came out, and it's called like "Always Coming Back Home to You." It was so sweet, he yelled "To all my killers and my hundred dollar billers..." and I was all like, "yeah!" and then he said "To emo kids that got too many feelings," and I was all like "hey I'm an emo kid!" Cause that's like a good thing right? Cause I have, like a ton of feelings and Slug like reaches out and touches me, you know? It's like he knows what it's like to be a kid trying to get through life and high school or whatever. Sometimes he says things that I think, at that is like, deep, dude.

Plus he's dope. Holla!

After being coerced by some of my more paranoid coworkers, I have agreed to go downstairs later today, show someone I don't know my insurance card, and allow them to stab a needle full immunization into my arm. I am scared of this for a few reasons, one of them being that the idea of getting a shot makes me want to throw up and die. At least we all know who is least likely to become a heroin addict.

An ominous sign in our lobby says "GET YOUR FLU SHOT. It's the right thing to do." Well, at least I won't be morally reprehensable today, or not for the few minutes while I am being stabbed anyway.

On to other more interesting notes. In case my opinion on music matters to anyone, here are some shows coming up that I am looking forward to:

• 11/15-16 Atmosphere, First Ave, SOLD OUT (which makes me telling you about it fairly pointless unless you already bought tickets, but hey, I am excited and have no qualms about rubbing it in your face)
• 11/19 Big Ditch Road CD Release, Lee's Liquor Lounge
• 11/23 Ike Reilly's Annual Thanksgiving Eve Show w/ Little Man and Trampled by Turtles, First Ave
• 11/25 Robert Skoro, Triple Rock (I love this guy)
• 12/3 Dan Israel CD Release w/ Mike Nicolai and Big Ditch Road, Turf Club (wish wish WISH I was going to be in town for this one! I love all of these guys)
• 12/5 Electropolis, Intermedia Arts
• 12/8 Curtiss A John Lennon Tribune, First Ave
• 12/9 Reticence CD Release w/ Bill Mike and Cloud Cult, Triple Rock
  
• 12/10 Mason Jennings, First Ave

Good stuff. I am hoping to catch as many shows as possible in the next month because there always seems to be a dry patch in January. Actually, January just plain sucks in general because the fun happy Christmas rush (actually, Christmas in and of itself is usually somewhat of a letdown because of all of the insane preparations and build-up) is over and we just have to put up with mounds of snow and sub-zero temperatures, with no end in sight. As Lewis Black would say, it gets so gray that it makes you want to slit your wrists just to see some color. Ha. That's good comedy right there.

Somehow I am almost halfway done with my novel, nearing 23,000. I had a major development in plot yesterday that I wasn't expecting, things are going to get very interesting, bwa ha ha...

Dear Faithful Blog Readers (Mom, Dad, Mark, Rentzi, Kristen, Garrison, Demian):

My poor blog has been feeling pangs of abandonment over these last few days, as I had all but forgotten about updating it over the weekend. I wish I could report that it was due to the fact that I was writing pages upon pages of prose in attempt to complete my novel, but alas it isn't so. I actually was just plain busy attending concerts, avoiding riots, and attempting to keep up with my wifely duties (what a weird picture), which have been lacking as of late.

But I am back now, and will continue to write more meandering entries that express my views on music and/or life.

I have a new review posted at HowWasTheShow, covering the Kingsbury Manx show Friday night. Check it out! The show was excellent, and severely underpopulated. I suppose that could be a good thing though, since Kristen and I got to talk to the band. Bill Taylor is a cool guy, very humble and kind to fans. I hope those guys become rock stars soon, they deserve to be lavishly rewarded for their talents.

Tomorrow marks that halfway point of novel writing month, which means that I theoretically should be at 25,000 words by the end of the day. I currently stand somewhere in the 18,000 range, eek! Week two is supposed to be the hardest part of the month, so I am glad that it is over.

Atmosphere is starting their three night stand at First Ave tonight, and they got some great press last week. Nice articles in Star Trib and City Pages, and Radio Homegrown played my favorite new Atmosphere song on their program last night. I called in and won two tickets for Tuesday night (thank you Drive 105!) so now Mark and I will be attending two of the three shows. Score.

I have been mulling over the new Kingsbury Manx CD the past few days trying to decide what exactly it is that I like about it and why I can't stop myself from pressing play again every time the last track ends. The lead singer has a voice eerily reminiscent of Roger Waters, and the music is very calmly, very subtley psychadelic. They don't push it in your face, like "yo, hey we be crazy! look at the rainbows!" - they just kind of throw it out there as a part of their sound, which I like.

The best track on the album, according to me, is called "What a Shame." It tells the story of a break up from two points of view, leaving it wide open for interpretation and/or emotional attachment and personal associations.

a bliss so underated to me
oh what a shame, said she
cause this is what lives are supposed to be

a kiss so underated to me
come closer, said she
cause this is what close is supposed to be

i feel so sedated, said she
so delusioned, said he
cause this is what lives are supposed to be

i feel so sedated, said me
like i told you, said she
it's not what lives are supposed to be

Just beautiful. Set to a rolling guitar/piano part with some lazy trumpet fills.

So, the point of all this Manx speak is to tell you that they are playing here on Friday night! You can catch them (and me, reviewing them) at the 7th Street Entry Friday, I believe tickets are very reasonable priced and you can get more information here. I think it will be a good show to catch, before the masses catch on to this band.

Also, Mike Nicolai is playing tonight at the Bryant Lake Bowl, a chance to hear some quality local music off of his new record "God in the Post Atom Age." Another one I be spinnin' lots lately.

I am pulling myself through week two of NaNoWriMo with much more reluctance than I was expecting. I am starting to reach a point where my mind won't give me anymore words. Alas!

So I do what all great American writers do when they come up short in their work...blog.

I am considering redesigning my blog as to appear less like an adspot on MTV -- I'm still not exactly sure what the graphics up top are supposed to represent, random numbers and maps of a city I've never been to. Except my knowledge of HTML and graphic design is very very limited, and my attempts at redesign have so far resulted in 1) me almost accidentally deleting the whole damn thing and 2) deleting the whole thing on purpose out of frustration. A little help is needed. Anyone?

In order to clarify my thoughts I will attempt to make a list. Here are some more out-of-date records I can't stop playing these days:

1. Ani Difranco: Reckoning. A great all-around album with just enough poignant politic commentary and female drama to keep me on the verge of tears during my whole bus ride to work. Some mornings are just made for silent moping on the bus.
2. The Long Winters: When I Pretend to Fall. Remember that band Harvey Danger that sang "Flagpole Sitter"? Well, the lead singer, John Roderick, just happens to be a great songwriter and his more recent band The Long Winters have put out some nice albums. I like this record the best because of the songs "Cinnamon" and "It'll be a Breeze." Romantic in a really bitter and strange way.
3. Martin Devaney: La Mancha. Actually not that old of a record, as it came out last year. Martin is a great local musician and all around good guy, this is by far his best work so far. A record I keep returning to as a soundtrack to write to/walk to/ride the bus to/etc. Enough ups and downs, fun beats and interesting lyrics to stay in the CD player for more than one play at a time.
4. Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Because, when all else fails, there is nothing sweeter than listening to a man and his piano.

That's all for now, must get back to not writing my novel and avoiding work.

Hangin' at the Dragon... I thought I was posing for a hot pic but Garrison popped in to the background. Turned into a pretty hilarious picture anyway, if you ask me. We were there for Jessica's birthday (as if we need an excuse to go to the Dragon). My arm looks gigantic for some reason. Happy Birthday Jessica!

Hey guess what! According to the Star Tribune riding the bus to work is "trendy."

With high gas prices, commuter buses are the ticket

So even when I start to feel down on myself, at least I know that for two hours a day I am doing something deemed cool by mass media. What a confidence booster!

Oh, and don't forget to download your weekly fix under direction of the Walsh Files. This week he asked 30+ local musicians for their input, it's a pretty sweet list.

Alrighty folks, the newest review is up and you can read it here: Trampled by Turtles. I promise that I was not as angry in the article as I was in my previous blog post about this show. I am a PRO-fessional after all!

I have been slaving away at my novel for hours and hours today, and the work has paid off! I hit 10,000 words today, which puts me right on track for the ol' contest there! I realized today that I don't actually get anything if I accomplish my goal, except for the "satisfaction of winning." That's kind of like telling someone that you like them because of their "great personality." Oh well, maybe I will print myself up a shiny gold certificate or something.

I have to go now, my brain feels broken.

Editor's note, post script: My husband brought to my attention the fact that I sound like a total tight-ass in my previous post and quite possibly in my article. Just to clarify, I have no problem with people wanting to legalize marijuana - there are much worse effects caused by drinking heavily and that is a legal substance - I just had a problem with that fact that it was shoved in everyone's face. If you are going to claim to be open-minded, you shouldn't expect everyone to agree with you! Ok, enough is enough on this topic.

Sam is such a drunk-ass. He prefers hitting the bottle of vodka almost as much as planting his chops in a fresh bowl of Fancy Feast. I think he was hung over in this picture.

Before I try to sit down and write a rational, well thought-out review of the Trampled by Turtles show last night, I have to get something off my chest. There were so many hippies - and I'm not talking about the peace love, happy-go-lucky hippies that you see in Woodstock video footage, these were all college-aged people who were dressed like hippies, but in my mind did not embody the spirit of that movement at all - packed into the Cabooze last night that it prompted many a question as to "where did they all come from?"

Just because the venue allowed a NORML booth to be set up in the back of the Cabooze does not mean - I am assuming here but I think it's a safe bet - that the bands wanted this show to turn into some kind of pro-drug rally. I always thought that the hippie movement was about politics, but I think these kids were too stoned to even realize that there is a war going on in Iraq, or that our President is an idiot. As far as I can tell, fighting to get pot legalized is not a pressing concern right now to anyone except this specific subculture. Ok, maybe I am just ranting here and being too harsh, but the stoner antics really got old fast and I thought that it detracted from the actual performance. It was tantamount to that one obnoxious drunk guy that is at every show, who is so out of his mind intoxicated that he ends up yelling over the music and puking on your shoe, but instead having him be everywhere puking on everyone's shoes. I hate that.

Aside from my quiet outrage toward 75% of the people in the room, I really enjoyed the music. Accident Clearinghouse is a great band, and when they invited Turtles onto the stage to play "Ooh La La" it was an obvious highlight of the night. Once I calm down I am going to write a review and it should be posted online tomorrow.

Oh, and 7,014 is the number today. I took yesterday off but will be back slaving away at the ol' novel today.

Today I had a thought - (I just decided that I hate it when people start their sentences this way because it makes it sound like they don’t have any thoughts the rest of the time, but oh well) why do music reviews always focus on new and just-released material? I understand that most music columnists work for newspapers, which generally like things to be, well, newsworthy, but I think there should be a forum for people to express opinions about music that is not necessarily fresh off the shelf but might be extremely relevant.

For example, I just recently became obsessed with the Modest Mouse album “Lonesome Crowded West” after digging through some of my husband’s old albums. The album was released in 1997, which probably means that I should have discovered it in 1997 and gotten sick of it by 1998. But I don’t work that way! The record has this great song on it called “Bankrupt on Selling,” which, despite its 8-year-old status, is light years ahead of all of that Jack Johnson acoustically melodramatic breathy pap that seems to be dominating mainstream airwaves right now. Just because I can I will post the lyrics here:

Well all the apostles-they’re sitting in swings
Saying I’d sell off my savior for a set of new wings
And some sandles with the style of straps that cling best to the era
So all of the businessers in their unlimited
Hell where they buy and they sell and they sell all their
Trash to each other but they’re sick of it all
And they’re bankrupt on selling
And all of the angels
They’d sell off yer soul for a set of new wings and anything gold
They remember
The people they loved their old friends
And I’ve seen through’em all seen through’em all and seen through most
everything
All the people you knew were the actors
All the people you knew were the actors
Well, I’ll go to college and I’ll learn some big words
And I’ll talk real loud
Goddamn right I’ll be heard
You’ll remember the guy with all those big words he must’ve
Learned in college
And it took a long time
I came clean with myself
I come clean out of love with my lover
I still love her
Loved her more when she used to be sober and I was kinder

Maybe someday I will make a movie and have my main character face a crisis while Isaac Brock croons this song in the background. That would be great.

Oh, and feel free to pat me on that back because I have written 5,114 word in my novel in the past two days. Yeah, that’s right, I’m already 10% of the way to my goal and it’s November 3. Take that, NaNoWriMo!

Today is the first day of NaNoWriMo. That means that thousands of people across the nation are throwing their freedom to the wind with the hope of finishing a novel by the end of the month. I am one of them. The goal is to reach 50,000 words by the end of November, which sounds both scarier and more doable than it probably is.

As of right now I am at 1,519.

So if I don't return your email/phone call/eye contact for the next 30 days, I have an excuse. I feel like the little engine that could: I think I can write, I think I can write...

And this blog is proving to be a great method of procrastination.

The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid! Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Take that, third grade spelling teacher.

Among other strange things floating around in my head today, I watched this show last night on CBS (I know, what the hell was the TV doing tuned to CBS?) and I actually laughed at a sitcom. It's called How I Met Your Mother and it starred that redhead from American Pie, and 80's icon Neil Patrick Harris. NPH is the best. Good thing he is back on prime time.