HearYa Earwood Vol 1: Best of 2008 Live Sessions

When I emailed the guys at HearYa my opinion of an O'Death song they took a look at the mcglinch blog and asked if I'd be interested in doing a drawing for the cover of their first-ever compilation of live in-studio sessions they recorded in 2008 with various cool Indie bands like Joe Pug, Backyard Tire Fire, The Everybodyfields and 13 others. I signed on for the job and ended up designing the whole cover. Head on over to HearYa and take a listen and grab the full album download for free. Thanks, Oz and Shirk!

Hoots & Hellmouth

Spent an evening out this weekend with the mrs. and Susan Bankert of Barking Tree Pottery and her husband, Scott, at The Arts Scene in West Chester for the "Mugs, Microbrews, Music & Movies" event at the Down To Earth Exhibit featuring entertainment by local up-and-still-coming-strong movers and shakers Hoots & Hellmouth. Susan had some beer mugs and other pieces in the exhibit along with a bunch of other talented folks.

I took this cell phone shot of the band only to later to find that this turtle dude who had way too many Victory Hop Devil samplers got in my way. I overheard some people plotting to put him on his back if he didn't start behaving.

Despite the turtle dude, the show was a
burn
barn-burner, foot-stomping revival. If you get a chance, grab the Hoots & Hellmouth cd and definitely catch them live.

My Little Brother

Inspired by the Art Brut's "My Little Brother." This song has been out a while now but I can never get enough of it. The mrs. and the kids have had plenty of it and greet it with groans whenever it comes on. Listen below -- the last line is the best.

Photo courtesy Washington University IEEE Dancefloor.

Request-a-doodle: Slacker Rocks

click for larger view

redbutt said...Capture the phrase "Slacker Rocks!"

Slacker is a new online music recommendation player that went public beta in March or April of this year. I've been playing with Slacker when my favorite KEXP is either acting up or I feel like a different listen. What I've liked about Slacker so far is that they have a great range of preset stations that offer a nice wide variety of artists and songs -- especially in the Indie space. Slacker surpasses Last.fm in song availability and seem to have a wider variety -and outside the mainstream. Slacker doesn't appear to have the social/community aspirations of Last.fm but responses to my recent feedback leads me to believe they might have some of that in the works.

The other leader in music recommendation, Pandora, lets you create your own playlists based on artists you like but lacks the presets that Slacker has -- that's what puts the "slacker' in Slacker. If you're tired of trying to achieve perfection with a playlist that often gets muddied with not-so-great recommendations, you can slack off and enjoy a Slacker preset.

Slacker has a bunch of different options on tuning a station or creating a station based on artists to really fit your preferences. The options are not so intuitive and take some time to get used to -- trying to remember whether you can 'right-click' or not for some options gets a little frustrating.

The 'new' thing they're offering, supposedly this summer, is a Slacker personal player that you'll be able to access Slacker stations, including the ones you've created on your own, via satellite in your car or via wifi in your house or office. It's geared toward being a cheaper alternative to satellite Sirius or XM. We'll see if they can pull it off.

So far, it rocks. Take a listen to my IndieMcG playlist.

Request-a-doodle: Old Colleagues as Scissor Sisters

A request from the last job, two of my editorial pals as members of the Scissor Sisters. Apparently the request was the result of a strange dream which itself was the result of the weekly Friday afternoon dance party in the office in which a few folks blast out a rollicking tune and these two usually belt out their best falsettos. And, by the way, the one on the right doesn't speak Spanish.

a couple of things

1. We saw Ben Folds tonight at West Chester University's famed Hollinger Fieldhouse. Great show. We weren't the only 'old-heads' there. Fantastic to not have to drive an hour into Philly to see a show.

2. I didn't doodle today and was out tonight (see 1. above) so didn't doodle tonight either. However, today, I was looking for an image for a presentation I was working on and came upon an image of Lesa Moriarity's tally sheet from a call center that she doodled on. That led to her entire online exhibit of her tally sheet artwork. Very nice stuff. I printed one out and have it hanging on my board in my office.

Cheap Trick with OK GO

Last Wednesday, my 'little' brother, visiting from San Antonio, TX, and I hit the TLA in Philly for Cheap Trick and OK GO.

It was a happy accident that I stumbled on their visit. A couple of us at work were discussing Rick Neilsen's guitar collection and I pulled up the Cheap Trick site and saw that they were coming to town. I think it's been 5 or 6 years since they were in Philadelphia.

I was an early fan back in '78 with the release of Heaven Tonight and then quickly picked up their earlier records -- the first purchased by my grandmother for a birthday. As I got older and headed into my concert going years they lost me especially with 1987's The Flame.

As I got older still and they had their 25th anniversary tour, I got hooked back into them, buying the cd's and framing the vinyl's. But their tours and my schedule never crossed paths until now. They've long been on my list of bands I 'gots' to see before I or they check out.

I wasn't able to match the wink my wife got from Tom Petersson as a teen in Saratoga, but I was able to give Rick a pat on the shoulder as he made his way through the bar crowd during opener, OK Go's act.

OK Go was good sport. They've gained viral fame this year with their treadmill Here It Goes Again and backyard A Million Ways dance videos. Their encore for the evening was a re-enactment of the backyard video. Well done, lads. Good infectious entertainment.

Cheap Trick went full force through their set and gave it all, covering the hits from Candy to Surrender to Dream Police and including songs off their new record, Rockford and even The Flame.

Rick spent the evening spitting while singing and spitting on stage and stomping about, showering picks throughout and finished strong with the 5-neck. Robin Zander's vocals seem just as strong as ever and show no sign of aging like so many of his peers and elder rockers. Tom Petersson kept things humming with his 12-string bass and Bun E. Carlos kept the beat well -- though his sticks didn't seem to be as big as they used to be.

That's one more of those goals that I can cross off the list.

The Elected with Margot & The Nuclear So and So's

Caught a show last week at the First Unitarian Church near 21st and Chestnut in Philadelphia. When I attended the Art Institute of Philadelphia just out of high school, we 'dormed' at the apartment house, then called the Ambassador Townhouse, at 21st and Chestnut, right across the alley from the church. I met my wife there on top of the building one night.

It was strange to be standing in the alley with a friend waiting in line for the show 17 stories below my wife's original apartment, 1818, (I'm pretty sure there was no 13th floor) 24 years later.

It was also a little strange to be in the basement of the church with about 100 other people who appeared to be less than half my age. I'm pretty sure that I was the 2nd oldest person in the crowd.

I went to see The Elected but was wow'ed by Indiana's Margot & the Nuclear So and So's. I had one of their songs, Skeleton Key, on my ipod and enjoyed it. Listening here and there on the commute was nothing compared to seeing them live. Their studio work only hints at the potential for rocking they gift to the fans and converts that have shown up at venue's around the country on their current tour. The eight-member band -- which includes a supplemental percussionist who drives the beat home with his marching band big bass drum and other noisy toys -- features a myriad of instruments that create a wall of sound that is rare on the small club circuit. How do they fit all of them --and their instruments too-- in their van?

If you get a chance, catch them -- they're sure to rise up.