It's really not my style to review albums, but I'm listening to Polysics latest album, We Ate The Machine, and I'm heading to their show at the Casbah tonight and I thought they deserved the added push, especially since they're playing with Black Gold (see Petro's interview here.
Anyway, I was trying to think about what to write about this album because it is not anything I would normally listen to. It's not mopey and introspective and thought provoking and deep. But it is awesome. Remember that lame saying people used in high school when they thought they were so clever- "Party in your pants and everyone's coming"? That's exactly how this album sounds. It's fun and light while also rocking hard and kicking ass. Thinking back to the last show, maybe I don't need to give the push because that show was sold out and the crowd clearly knew what they were in for. On this album, I'm a fan of "DNA Junction", if only because I'm wondering WTF that means, and the album opener "Moog is Love". By the way, the album is released on MySpace records, so maybe everyone's first friend, Tom, will be there to rock out with all of us.
Either way, I recommend checking out the album and especially checking out the show tonight.
BTW, congrats to Jamie for winning the tickets to the Casbah tonight and to Johnathan who nabbed the Conor tickets.
I do not consider myself a writer and my background is certainly not in journalism, but some how, some way, I've been writing as long as I can remember. Journals, diaries, 3 blogs, a relationship advice website, this site, and now I'm contributing to CityBeat. Still, there is so much for me to learn as I transition from writing what I think as I think it on this site versus writing for print for the masses.
For this reason, I was ecstatic to be invited to the Whistle Stop on Thursday to get some practical writing advice from Mike Sager, author of three books including his latest, Revenge of the Donut Boys, before he was to read some of his short stories for the Whistle Stop crowd. A small group of CityBeat writers and editors gathered as Mike talked to us about his credentials, his writing, notable interviews, and tips for writers (which you can find on his site, and which I seem to break in every single post on this site). He's such an amazing guy, with intense eyes and a knack for telling stories that had me paralyzed in awe. Here's this guy, a writer for Esquire and published author, taking the time to talk to our small group while sipping his Jack and Cokes, telling us about visiting Aryan nation headquarters or hanging out in barracks with guys going through boot camp.
The jukebox was playing loud in the background as we heard the clack-clack-clacking of the cue ball breaking up a tight rack on the nearby pool table, testing our ability to drown out background noise while we focused on this one voice sharing his experience and knowledge with us. It was inspiring in more ways than I can describe.
Before we knew it, the bar was filling up, rows of chairs were set up, and we all made our way to the bar to refresh our bevvies. Two parts of The Stereotypes, Mike Kamoo and Johk Finkbiner, took the stage to play an acoustic set of music. I loved the couple of times I saw the full band play, but I especially liked the intimacy of this acoustic set.
This is their song "Lines" off their yet to be released new album. (Recorded in low light so you can't really see Mike, but I like the sound quality.)
After the music portion of the evening, the authors read from their collections of short stories. Local Greg Gerding was first to read from his book, Venue Voyeurisms. It was a little funny to me because I'd never met Greg before this night, but somehow I was subscribed to his MySpace blog and had been reading his posts for a while. His book would be loved by any San Diego bargoer, with stories about all the haunts we love and the ones we love to hate. Livewire, Pacer's, The Morena Club and more are the backdrop for his musings about love, life, drunks, and karaoke.
The bar filled up with people who were interested in cocktails but not so much into hearing authors read from their respective books. Mike was reading from a couple of his books when some hecklers in the other room got rowdy, to which Mike had no problem telling them to shut the fuck up and show some respect. There was one guy in the room in particular who wouldn't stop. Clapping to certain lines the way Alf did on that lame show in the 80's, we just waited for the "Ha! You slay me!" comments. At one point Andrea turned to me and asked if I thought he was maybe "special" because he was so obnoxious. I think "overserved" was more accurate. Still, those of us in the room were attentive and engaged by Mike's reading.
After Mike read, we were treated to poetry by Ed Decker, whose experience as a bartender and as a regular bar patron give him a lot of material for his writing. He read from his latest, Barzilla.
The night could've ended there and I was ready to head back to the 'hood, but with some arm twisting by Abraham, we went to the Casbah to catch Polysics.
We arrived in time to catch about 4 or 5 songs, but it was clear that the night had been high energy. Not only were the band members soaked in their orange jumpsuits, but the crowd had that sweat that isn't regularly a part of the head nodding crowd of the Casbah. I took the opportunity to join the fun and suddenly found that I was now "overserved." Still, I took a couple pics.
After the show I bumped into a chick from the band, who asked me if I came to the Casbah often. When I laughed and told her yes, she proceeded to give me all of her drink tickets. So nice. I hung out in the patio for a while with Abraham who was a super bad influence on me and with even more arm twisting, we went to the Turf Club for last call. (This is the part of the night where we left my car parked on Kettner, where it stayed for two days.)
The discussion about the ever changing landscape of music trudges along. Some people (namely the big record labels) bitch and moan. "Declining record sales are the fault of downloaders, blah blah blah." My feeling is you accept the changes and work them to your favor or you get lost in the dust. Maybe more musicians doing things in a DIY way can afford their rent in exchange for the execs only having 10 bedroom houses instead of 15 bedroom houses. wah. What I'm interested in are the innovators that say, yes, it's changing, but it can work for us. Fighting the web is like trying to stop an ocean wave with your hands. Not gonna happen. Obviously as a blogger, I have my share of opinions about all of it, but I stand up behind sites like MySpace, YouTube, vMix, mTraks, Veoh, Virb and the like in all that they do for levelling the playing field and opening up the musical landscape. There's room for everyone.
It is known that there is a MySpace record label, and now, MySpace is presenting their first national tour. Say Anything and hellogoodbye are headlining with various guests in each city of the tour. The tour will make it's way through San Diego on November 17, and I'll be there if Tom is there. Tickets go onsale Friday, Aug 31 at 1 pm. Click the link below for tickets.
I wasn't gonna post the whole press release, but I kinda like all the corporate mumbo jumbo. MySpace, America's most trafficked website, today announced the official launch of the ‘MySpace Music Tour,’ a new series of MySpace produced and branded concert events. The first MySpace Music Tour, presented by Extreme Style by VO5, will kick off Oct. 16 in Seattle, WA, and will be co-headlined by artists Hellogoodbye and Say Anything. Other bands will include MySpace Records artist, Polysics, and to-be-announced special guests. The Tour will include more than 30 shows across the United States throughout October and November 2007. "MySpace has served as a platform for countless bands and musicians around the world to showcase and promote their music to millions of fans online," said Tom Anderson, president and co-founder of MySpace. "With the new MySpace Music Tour concert series we are able to bring people face-to-face with the bands and artists they’ve come to know and love on the site. The kick-off tour has an amazing line-up of bands and I know the MySpace community will be psyched to see them live.”
Presented by Extreme Style by VO5, the MySpace Music Tour will have a dedicated online community on MySpace, where fans can find all tour information and purchase tickets. The profile will also feature exclusive content, including band blogs from the road, photo galleries and exclusive offers and sweepstakes for MySpace users to win a chance to hang out backstage with the bands.
“Extreme Style by VO5 is all about individuality and self-expression, making MySpace a great partner and the MySpace Music Tour an ideal venue,” explained Rob Keen, Marketing Director for VO5. “Music and style are the main vehicles for self-expression, and we’re helping provide both with amazing music and styling stations for men and women to achieve their personal looks.”
Co-headliners Hellogoodbye and Say Anything have made their names as popular MySpace Music artists. Hellogoodbye's first full-length album, Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! was released in 2006 featuring the platinum single, "Here in your arms." Alternative rock band Say Anything will release its second album In Defense of the Genre, in October 2007. Japan’s Polysics are touring in support of their first album for MySpace Records, Polysics or Die: VISTA!!!, which comes out Oct. 9. Widely known for their hyper-kinetic live shows, Polysics perform new wave punk in Japanese, English and even their own space-language.
"Hellogoodbye are big fans of MySpace, and I don't want to brag or anything, but I am a pretty good blogger,” said Forrest Kline, lead singer and guitarist of Hellogoodbye. “MySpace has allowed me to develop my blogging skills and I am thrilled to be on the first ever MySpace tour and further refine those skills by posting post-show blogs."
“We are stoked as beans to be on the first MySpace tour with Hellogoodbye!! It’s going to rock!” said Max Bemis of Say Anything.
The MySpace Music Tour will kick off Oct. 16 in Seattle, WA and will wrap in Las Vegas Thanksgiving weekend. Pre-sale tickets will be available for purchase exclusively on MySpace for MySpace members only beginning Aug. 31. Ticket sales for the general public will begin on Sept. 6. Full details about the first ever MySpace Music Tour, including dates and tour stops, will be available on MySpace. The next concert tour in the ‘MySpace Music Tour’ series will take place in Spring 2008, with additional details to be announced in the coming months.
To date, MySpace has more than eight million bands using the site. MySpace music has allowed bands to share music and videos, announce tour dates and communicate with fans and others in the MySpace community, seamlessly integrating the web into shared online and offline experiences. MySpace Music has been the launch pad for exclusive, high-profile album releases from artists such as Gnarls Barkley, Panic! At the Disco, Lily Allen, Fall Out Boy, Timbaland, Modest Mouse, The Used, and many more. Exclusive album releases recently featured on MySpace include T-Pain (#1 Debut on Billboard), The Used (#5 Debut on Billboard), Timbaland (#2 Debut on Billboard), Modest Mouse (#1 Debut on Billboard), and The Shins (#2 Debut on Billboard).
