When the Sky is Full of 0’s and 1’s
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This show was on Kirsite�s birthday and I don�t think she could have asked for a better gift (atleast when it comes to live show�s on one�s birthday). There were 3 opening bands and in typical Bottom Lounge style they were loud and �well�.did I mention that they were loud. We got there early, right when doors opened, and found out the line up and decided to get something to eat and come back later. Even doing that we came back and caught the end of the Methadones set which I wasn�t really impressed with. Next up Cobra Verde which we listened to a couple songs and then sat the rest of the set out in the bar. Both bands had the loud and fast part of punk, but after the AMAZING set by the Undertones it was easier for me to put my finger on what these 2 bands were missing. They both had simple songs, no really great hooks or melodies, and no harmonies.

The Undertones on tour now are have been the present incarnation for a few years I believe. Its all the original members minus Feargal, who�s replacement was so spot on I would have never known otherwise it wasn�t the man himself (having not seen any pictures of the Feargal recently I can be easily fooled). The chemistry between all the members and their interaction with the crowd was magical. I saw young punks who couldn�t have been older then 3 when the Undertones first formed (myself included) to older folks who have obviously been following the band for sometime, and besides a few rude jerks who think punk is about bumping into ppl for no reason the crowd was fairly well mannered. Almost every song brought raucous cheers and pogoing from the crowd, with most of us singing along to the anthemic chorus. I hate to pit bands against each other, but Kirstie and I agree that if Wire could have channeled half as much energy as the undertones did this night we would probably see Wire again. Not only did the Undertones seem to have energy level of hyped up teenagers, they played the greatest set of classic songs with the musician ship the some younger bands could only hope for. With Teenage Kicks devoted to the late Mr Peel, an encore of Mars Bars to close the evening, and pretty much every other song that I wanted to hear played it was a perfect show.

Every person takes the limits of their own field of vision for the limits of the world.
- Arthur Schopenhauer

After m u l tip le rave reviews, Kirstie and I finally decided to go. The play was based on the film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and was done in a large “cabinet” with puppets. Calling it a “puppet play” though doesnt do it justice, the puppets were just as much alive as the people controling them. The puppeteers were dressed in dark greys and black so that they blended in with the back drop, but their faces were painted white showing off expressions that the puppets sometimes couldnt. They brought the characters to life, and with the help of the most erie and mutli-ethnic influenced music totally submerged me into the play. The play opened with a large horned victorla rolling out of one of the lower drawers of the cabinet, and a hand gently placing the needle on the record. This cued the voice over of a shaky voice and suddenly the 2 large doors in the middle open to reveal the main stage. From this point the play is an amazingly creative and mystical ride through a hauntingly imaginitive story. Its interesting that it was written so long ago but feels so modern. The movie the machinist seems to draw a bit of inspiration from this same theme. The theater presenting this play, redmoon is set way back from the street, an industrial deserted side street, with only a small sheet metal sign signifing you are at the correct place. Its seems like the small wierd places are the best places.

After leaving this we drove to wickerpark to do some record and book shopping. Ever since I heard of Creeley’s passing I have been on the search to find some books of his. Oddly, after parking the car we walk past the park (named wicker park, thus the name of the neighborhood) and catch the last few scenes of the heroes of wicker park, this weird music, art, play that was being performed in the park. I wished we had gotten there earlier so that we could have seen the whole thing becuase from what we saw it looked really neat. There was a small band of ppl on drums, guitar, sax, upright bass, and accordian playing music for the scene where these to actors with large paper masche masks/helment have an argument. After that the characters moved over to the side of the fountain where a group of boys/girls started playing and then dancing, waltzing right up to the fountain and skipping around it, pulling kids from the “audiance” into their cirlce. It was the second to last show of theirs. I hope they do more things like that throughout the summer, its what makes me like this city.

A school night show, but an early show so it didn�t hurt that bad. I left work early so that we could grab a quick bite to eat at a pizza/sandwhich shop on North Ave called Santillo�s. It was a warm spring day so the walk from the car to food was very nice and put us in a good mood to see animal collective. We got to the bottle about 20 minutes early, secured our seats on the steps, and peacefully enjoyed a beer while listening to the house music before Ariel Pink took the stage. This show was in combination with the version 05 festival that was going on around the city.

Both Ariel Pink and Animal Collective are on the same label so its not surprising that they have a similar sound. Ariel Pink are 5 guys who manage to make the music of cavemen. Very primitive, raw and special. They really didn�t have the hip and trendy analog gear, and appeared to have just woken up. The bass player used a short scale no name bass, there was no guitar just 2 vocalists who had delay boxes for their vocals and the keyboard was a cheap casio. Combined with the drums they made hauntingly savage noise. With all the delay on the vocals they were more like ghostly synths creating a haze which the bass and drums pummeled through and the casio weaved a simple melody over. I really enjoyed the set and thought they did a good job of taking me away from the roar of the sounds of the city and to a place millions of years ago.

Animal Collective was very impressive. This was the first time we saw them and didn�t know what to expect. The CD�s sound like there are tons of samples and so I was half expecting them to come out with laptops and boxes. Not the case, although there were a lot of rack-effect units on stage, all the music we heard was being created right in front of our eyes. On the floor was one member of the band who sat most of the show kind of live mixing and tweeking the instruments, adding delay and noises from various circuit bent toys. After about 3 songs a 4th person popped up from behind the drum, a floor tom, and started banging out some rhythms and chanting into a microphone. A couple of time during the set the guy on the floor picked up a snare and started dancing around the stage while hitting it. Where Ariel Pink had a more aggressive caveman sound, Animal Collective brought the feeling of a tribal ritual, a calling for rain for the harvest. Had I not liked the music so much I would have called the antics �hippie� but being that the whole set was more musical and less pure rhythmic fodder, it was something magical. No encore because they didn�t have any songs short enough and we all had to get out so that the late show could start.

wow…just changed the database a bit…now all the artists and albums are links to the cddb site…very cool..

After a mind-blowing and jaw dropping night of electronics and volume from the M83 show I look toward this show to fulfill the pop-hooks of the weekend. I was not disappointed, Gedge and co. were on pickingup where he left off last time he was in town as Cinerama. Crystal Skulls opened and having not any knowledge of them before hand, they put on a enjoyable albeit vanilla set. Also met up with a that same list member from the Hitchcock show, which was fun.

With a name like Crystal Skulls I was expecting a band dressed all in black, singing (screaming) songs about death and blood. Not the case, these guys were pretty much a straight-up indie rock band with influences in the mid-80�s. I heard a bit of the House Martins , Smiths, and other jangly brit-pop bands. Not any really memorable songs, but a good feeling throughout the set. Although their name is very similar to my favorite doors cover band called crystal shit�they do a door show and it goes a little something like this..

Enough silliness, The Wedding Present were fantastic. Gedge hadn�t lost a step, bashing away at his guitar while belting out the sweetest songs about being hurt by women. The drummer was a really young guy (compared to Gedge and Simon anyway) and he was terrific, beating the living crap out of the drums. Not that the songs are overly aggressive, on the contrary the songs more passive, longing and coy-shy-boy-esque. They are the only band I have seen to employ a woman as a guitar tech. The show was obviously to support the new album �Take Fountain� so most of the set came from that and the last Cinerama album, with the gaps filled in by older Wedding Present songs. Only having Saturnalia I didn�t know all the other songs, but I will definetly have to get the rest of their stuff.

Not like anyone reads this but today is our 6th anniversary. According to google this is the Iron and Sugar anniversary. Kirstie bought a cake, and well that has sugar. We used forks to eat it, not really made from iron but oh well.

I just learned from the images that Mercury Rev had going before their set that the poet Robert Creeley had passed away earlier this year. I had heard him do a reading once, during my freshman year at UB (where he was a proffessor for many years and at the time just in residence). It was the most beautiful and inspiring reading I had ever heard before and since. Ever since then I had ment to pick up some books of his, remembering back to that reading. Here is a link which contains many links about his life/poetry/and collaborations.

so i have posted a “song” to this site called 15megs of fame. this is not the first time i have put stuff on the next. i had 4 pieces on the old mp3.com which were lost when that site was destroyed…i may still have the files somewhere but i am not sure. i like the idea of this 15 megs of fame becuase they have a rating system so i can get some (?) feedback, i am not looking for anything, but interested in seeing what i get. not expecting to take the world by storm, but maybe someone will have some tips.

Well after weeks (nah..months!) of Laura & Terry informing me of the greatness of this show (and with Laura calling me tonight to tell me what the topic was) I have finally watched. Well what a show to watch, the horror of Belson camp and the kindness of the british soldiers is amazing. The footage of Belson camp is like nothing I have seen before. Bodies/sickness and filth, horrifing. 300 camps like this all throughout Germany. Next is Dachau, a camp that everyone knew about becuase the nazi’s publicized it. 1 peron every 20 minutes passed away from sickness/famine. Each section of this show just gets worse and worse. Sickening.

After a wonderful dinner with friends and a long week of work it was time for the first show of 2 for the weekend. I had read reviews that M83 were very MBV like, and listening to the album I thought �yeah they are swirley and blanketed in reverb and noise, but its not like its loud�. The live show really proved where those MBV compares came from. The openers Ulrich Schnauss and DJ Chris Widmanslowly eased us into the night�s event.

DJ Chris Widman played a nice long set of dark ambient leading up to fairly upbeat techo. There was a record he put on at one point that sounded like the music from �Bladerunner� which was both neat and creepy. I haven�t heard such a good set of techno tunes since leaving Buffalo,NY where on Friday nights DJ Soma would spin techo/ambient/downbeat stuff on the local college station Kirstie and I really liked (WBNY buff state college rado station). I have just realized that Widman is a member of Abstract Science which does a radio show show every week on WLUW (Loyola radio), I will have to tune into that.

Ulrich Schnauss was one guy, a keyboard, a Mac (looked like an older powerbook) and what sounded like multiple delay units. The combination visually gave me the idea that this was going to be some guy playing cheesy keyboards over lame beats. How wrong was I! The set started off slow, just a simple piano line and some atmospherics from the laptop. As that song progressed, and the layers of delay started to build, I began to see what he was doing. He actually was able, with all the layers of delay and feedback, make a typically un-expressive instrument very emotive and powerful. No only did he have musical skill he was able to make the effects and samples equally musical. A perfect stepping stone from the chill-out music of Widman and the sonic onslaught that M83 were about to bring, completely unknown to me at the time.

After starring at the stage, with all its real instruments, and wondering what they were going to do with them for the past 2 hrs it was finally time. I don�t know what my problem is, but when I listened to both �DeadCitites, RedSeas&LostGhosts� and �before the dawn heals us�, I thought that most of those sounds were keyboards and samples, ala Telefon Tel Aviv. There were samples, mostly used to thicken up the drum and bass sounds, and one keyboard which produced the melody lines of most of the songs. All of which were drowned, and I mean completely gasping for air, by the vertigo inducing volume of the guitar/bass and drums. There was one guy who played only guitar for the whole night, and he looked schooled in the Sonic Youth realm of guitar tools. He used a hand fan (one of those that you see ppl at baseball games holding to their face to try to cool off) to strum the strings for a few songs, a screwdriver in the neck of one guitar that he had laying on the keyboard stand was used as both a slide device and something that turned the guitar into more of a percussive instrument. Really though, while watching the show I tried to figure out who was making what sound, but it was useless. The drumming and bass kept all the songs from being just blissed out noise freaks. The 2 of them gave the sounds a danceable quality, not that I could move with my jaw firmly planted to the floor. The drummer was one of those that made you feel really bad for the drum-skins, while also able to change tempo and force to move the songs from these sonic onslaughts to peaceful soft landings. This was the show which has now made me realize that the sign at the bottle is right, �your not too old, its too loud�, but wow was it brilliant.