revelations of a music snob

regarding:

* new STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS record - i couldn't say it much better than Tiny Mixtape's Ed Comentale:

"Ultimately, Mirror Traffic doesn’t quite recapture the shaggy
grandeur of Wowee Zowee, and, perhaps to its detriment, it abandons the proggy
jam-band bliss of Real Emotional Trash."

it's still a pretty great freaking record, though. you just need to skip tracks 1 and 3.

* bass guitar - SPECTOR2112 is my new favourite youtube guy. if you look at the selection of stuff he plays, it's like he grew up with me...or at least down the street from me...except, he has the Rush, Frente and BN Ladies songs (so i guess that means he actually was up the street from JaHe! ahahahahahaaahahaha ). :(



* taylor swift - made the following observations in no particular order:
- LA crowds kinda suk, even at arena shows: the entire audience sang along to every song, loudly. but, hardly anyone applauded or hooted in between songs. in fact, some pauses in the show were downright silent. AlSto sez it's cos everyone was busy texting or otherwise doing something else to occupy their attention-deficited minds.
- fathers seated next to a person other than his daughter on one side are oblivious when their ample backsides begin to slide over to occupy part of the other person's seat for more than one song.
- i can recognise a justin bieber song in less than four notes.
- justin bieber can dance pretty well even when he's half-a$$ing it.
- t. swift's backup dancers dance better than justin bieber.
- her guitar players are the type of guys i don't like, meaning too much hairspray and too many Les Paul guitars for their age. and they can play so-so.

(click for more photos, but not of the guitar players!)

- t.s. puts on a decent show, she really does! and i'm talking about the entire production, not just her. the sets are beautiful, and she does the quick-change thing that would put most people, including Chinese opera singers, to shame.
- it's funny cos a bunch of people asked if she really couldn't sing or uses autotune live. i was watching her closely. there was a slight lag between the stage and video screen. i think there might be a little backing track action happening, but what do i know?
- even if one doesn't think one knows t.s.' repertoire, one does. it may also be because a lot of her songs sound the same...but still, they're tolerable and written well.
- t.s. prefers audio technica handheld mics and she holds it in her right hand. always. i think she plays Taylor guitars, too, but that is a little on the nose.

who knew one could score points with the kids (my friend ScoTe's daughter, EmTe) and some coworkers (who are parents) simultaneously?!!!??

as soon as i figure out how to upload audio...

...i will. this is a podcast i recorded for a private intranet website. but, i liked the way it turned out so here it is, without the music. just pretend to insert them into the spaces marked ==.

ALBUM REVIEW: REAL EMOTIONAL TRASH by STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS
You may recognize the name Stephen Malkmus, for his work as the singer and guitarist of the trailblazing indie rock band, Pavement, from the 1990s. But after Pavement broke up, Malkmus continued to showcase his fertile mind and musical prowess in a few one-off projects, and most notably on solo releases both with and without his band, the Jicks.
Now based out of Portland, Oregon, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks have released a new album, called Real Emotional Trash. it’s the first release for Malkmus in a few years, and it’s his first album to share its name with one of its songs. Real Emotional Trash won’t be a disappointment to music fans who long to hear skilled guitar work, quirky lyrics, and an intelligent take on psychedelic low fidelity.
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Malkmus has played with The Jicks in some shape or form for years, and the current lineup includes bassist Joanna Bolme, keyboardist Mike Clark, and former Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss. The quartet has a palpable chemistry, and succeeds in putting complex elements behind a noisy exterior for an all-around accessible sound.
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Real Emotional Trash officially has three sides. For LP collectors, this means it’s one side short of a double album. For others, this may mean an album that's too long. However, each song sounds as if it belongs, like each song is an essential contribution to the whole, and so, the length of the album isn’t excessive. Several of the songs have been described by Malkmus as “triple part saga, acid mind blowers”, and that’s as good a description as any.
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There are also shorter, more direct songs on the album, and some of them feature Malkmus’ remarkable ability to double his vocal parts with his guitar…or maybe he’s actually doubling his guitar with his vocals… Regardless, the result would be a fantastic thing to witness live, and on record, it is a moving, effective technique.
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Various parts of the album were recorded in locations in Montana and Oregon with one engineer, T.J. Doherty, who recorded the last two Wilco albums. Then, after some recording equipment mishaps, the album was taken to be mixed in yet a different place, with a different producer, Nick Vernhes. In interviews, Stephen Malkmus describes Real Emotional Trash as a “great record (made) the very hard way”, but you don’t hear any of the trouble that went into the making of this great album. At least, once you give it a listen, you'll be grateful for every little bump in the road the Jicks had to endure.