LittleDaniel

It may just be the ex-percussion student in me, but I like Ionisation by Edgar Varèse.

That's what I told my friend to get me...it's so weird that I must have it...

Until Saturday, 8PM GMT, Los Campesinos are selling tshirts from their current tour. Also, "If you like, I will ensure your tee has been worn briefly by your chosen Campesinos!, at no extra price." Now I need to figure out which Campesino I want to wear my shirt...

That cliche cirus music pops into my head...a lot. At least twice a week. The "Doug" theme song does the same.

Offer them a place to crash. Then get people across the country to do the same...and start pimping them to anyone who books shows in their basements! There is hope still!

And if it wasn't my anniversary on Wednesday, I'd be seeing AJJ and Pedals on the same show...either that or Los Campesinos' last show in the area with Alek...I'm missing too many shows for this girl

Since I don't want to make another long post in the gig thread that no one really cares about, I'll just say that I just came back from a gig that involved a robot, a guy getting his head shaved on "stage", a bassist hitting my girlfriend in the eye, creepy-ass masks(the hyphen makes a world of difference), getting interviewed for some tiny D.I.Y. magazine, and two hundred kids in this basement all screaming along to Andrew Jackson Jihad. Also, I got an awesome Andrew Jackson Jihad tour exclusive shirt, which has a picture of Michael Jackson with "Michael Jackson Jihad" and "See you in hell" written on it. New favorite shirt.

I love basements. I saw Pedals on our Pirate Ships there last night(not my picture, one on the venue's website). They were the headliners...for reasons that I don't exactly understand. Hell, I don't understand why they were playing at all last night. There were three other bands on the bill last night, one of them being a local "hardcore" band and the other two being touring "hardcore" bands. What this meant to me was a lot of fucking screaming. I can really only tolerate screaming when its used sparingly by a band...this wasn't the case. My girlfriend, who accompanied me, feels the same way, so we stayed upstairs near the merch table reading the free anarchist literature for an hour or two, unable to actually talk to each other because the "hardcore" music downstairs was so loud. Then, finally, Pedals took the...well, not stage... First of, they seem like some of the nicest people around, which is generally true of bands I talk to at basement shows. Also, they have the best drum kit I've ever seen: no bass drum, but a storage trunk with a drum pedal next to it, a snare and a crash cymbal attached to the top. Simple and fun, even the hardcore guys liked the bass drum alternative. When Pedals took the...floor, my girlfriend and I were the only ones downstairs. They sang loudly into the microphone that they were going to start soon, but still no one came down. It looked like we were going to get a private show! Luckily for them, as soon as they started playing some people came down to check them out. It was mostly the guys from other bands and the couple of people who were working the venue, but I did see one other person singing along to their songs! A couple of songs into their set, the guitarist/vocalist noticed he had lost his capo, which cut out a lot of their setlist, they ended up making the setlist up on the go after that point and taking requests from the few of us who knew their songs. They played great, and the audience(which I thought might be unresponsive after the night of brutality Pedals had to follow) seemed to dig them. Hopefully next time they play Baltimore(they only live one state away, so I can't see it being too far in the future) they get a better turn-out. Only knowing about three songs that they played, I know they got me interested in the rest of their songs! Also, the bonus track on their CD is called "Bonus!!!! wahooooooo." And that was my attempt to do a YI-length gig review. I think I failed...

I'm seeing Pedals on our Pirate Ships tonight. Monday, I'm seeing Andrew Jackson Jihad at the same venue. Wednesday, the fuckers are playing a show together a little farther than I'd like to travel. Couldn't Pedals have waited two days? The rest of the bands on tonight seem like garbage, might just stay for Pedals then leave, something I absolutely hate to do.

This might not be about "l33t" music, but fuck it, I'm putting it here anyway. Is any of Boys Like Girls/Gym Class Heros/The Academy Is/The Veronicas/Never Say Never any good live? I'm taking my girlfriend to go see them in exchange for her going to weird/punk shows with me this Monday, but I'm not interested in any of them. To be fair though, I did hear somewhere the Boys Like Girls have some decent stage presence and put on a good show.

If that was one of their better songs, I'm so very glad I didn't go to Warped Tour.

I have no clue why I thought Brokencyde played instruments...I think I was still in a state of shock, all these months later, from the utter shit that was Freaxxx.

I was talking to a friend about this the other day, and we decided that this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubfWnIid5J8 is so much worse than Brokencyde. At least Brokencyde is good for a laugh and can play instruments, this is just cringeworthy. And to show off how great their lyricism is, I present one line from another of their songs: "No one's here so lets just fuck."

Why can I never find Andrew Jackson Jihad albums? Fuck it, I'm seeing them on August 3rd, I'll get it then. In fact, I seem to never be able to find a lot of folk punk besides what the bands put up for free...conspiracy.

Got my autographed copy of Slow Club's debut CD in the mail today, haven't had a chance to listen yet though, but I'm expecting it to be pretty good.

Fuck me for having a ride to the LC! show in DC but not being able to go.

Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution - http://www.myspace.com/banditsoftheacousticrevolution Camera Obscura - http://www.myspace.com/cameraobscuraband Man Man - http://www.myspace.com/wearemanman The Men They Couldn't Hang - http://www.myspace.com/tmtch The Minutemen - http://www.myspace.com/theminutemen The World/Inferno Friendship Society - http://www.myspace.com/worldinferno

Fuck yes, looks like I've got a ride to D.C. for one of the last Los Campesinos! shows with Aleks.

Saw Gogol Bordello w/ Man Man tonight. Spent half the night hopping on one foot because my shoe came off when I fell down. The show kind of went on for too long; Gogol kept teasing the ending, only for it too keep going and going. Honestly, they must have done it at least five times, not including the encore, and that's fucking draining. I usually put whatever energy I have left into jumping around when I think its almost over, so I had to do this six or so times. And the encore just made me see how spoiled the spectators are; some were starting to get mad when it seemed like Gogol wasn't coming back out. Now I can appreciate why The Mars Volta did no encore when I saw them live, even if I was mad at the time(I understand, but they still seemed like self-indulgent pricks onstage). Also, between Man Man and Gogol Bordello, a guy in luchadore mask came out and DJed. Just thought I'd share.

Yeah, and that gives them one year to record the ten albums worth of material they'd write in the next three years...

And speaking of the male/female duet dynamic, are Slow Club recording a full-length yet?

I don't want her to be replaced, but I love the male/female duet dynamic in bands. Maybe she'll come back after uni? And yeah, the new album, I'm fucking stoked for that. (Y)

One of the girls from Los Campesinos! is leaving the band after their August US tour, pretty sure its the singing one, not the bass or the violin one, which makes me sad. Mainly for the fact that they skip over Baltimore in their tour.

Ghost Mice is coming to a basement near me. Sweet! And Pedals on our Pirate Ships is coming just a few weeks later! Amazing place!

Worked today, and The Big Acoustic Gaylist is probably my favorite so far.