Three great pleasures in life: Music, Food, Sex.
-Anthony Bourdain*
Two certainties: Death, Taxes.
-Benjamin Franklin
*Listened to Bourdain’s appearance on the 1/27/08 SoundOpinions podcast while I walked home. Very entertaining. A favorite line (not an exact quote / I’m paraphrasing): you even show the appearance of enjoying Billy Joel’s music in my kitchen and you’re immediately fired.
DVDs of old (in some cases OLD!) favorites ordered to replace battered, beat-down, taped off HBO (or some such) VHS tapes. In alpha order…
Movies you’ve seen a thousand times = good background for knittin’. If I were doin’ any.
Ah, March, I barely remember you… Ha! Kidding!
The best movie I saw in March was also the only movie I saw (Be Kind, Rewind), so good thing I enjoyed it.
The best book I read in March was definitely The Complete Stories by David Malouf. Really wonderful stories.
The best gig I went to in March is harder to pin down. I was excited to finally see Matt Nathanson and (separately) Dan le Sac. I thought the Raveonettes sounded great. I probably enjoyed Griffin House the most as he was all sassy and laidback and it was a really fun night.
My favorite tunes in March were lots of stuff I was already listening to from February, like new albums from Missy Higgins, Nada Surf, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, Bon Iver, Mike Doughty and the Raveonettes; but also stuff I bought in March like new albums from Jesse Malin “Glitter in the Gutter” (which I lovelovelove), Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks and Gnarls Barkley (DangerMouse can do no wrong)!!
Random personal highlights: Hmmm, let’s see, nine-day trip to Japan, I guess that was kind-of a highlight (I guess! Ha!); my newest/youngest cousin was born!: Clark and I had a joint party; and I had a great long Saturday with Carlos and Shei getting back into shooting film (vs. digital).
Lowlights? Long, long, long airplane rides.
So the first time I saw him/them live, I didn’t even have the album yet (small release in ’07, big release 2/19/08). I was worried that seeing him/them again so soon would be too much the same, but given that I had the album to compare it to this time, it felt very different.
They’re really evolving these songs away from the album versions. A lot more atmospheric, more discordance and (purposeful) feedback and such. The falsetto is a little wilder and sometimes turns into a yowl. The three of them sing in harmony a LOT and it’s awesome. It’s a bit more raw and in your face than on the record. Not quite as plaintive and sad, a bit more aggressive in its melancholy. Beautiful.