battles @ bowery ballroom

They opened up for Mission of Burma last night. They were fucking great.

breakin'

just another evening on hollywood blvd.

sundance, the movies

http://imdb.com/features/sundance/2006/blog

i pretty much agree with this write up of the festival. in fact, it's more educated and detailed than my opinion and has more info about movies i haven't heard about. sorry to redirect you, but why should i regurgitate a similar opinion?

Witchcraft's "You Bury Your Head"

It's a damn shame that I haven't had a moment of clarity in this life to tell you about Sweden's Witchcraft.
Ah, screw it - I don't usually do this, (post a bio) but I really can't say it any better - for lack of knowledge really. All I know is that apart from Battles, this band is my favorite band that is still active. That's top 2, for those of you keeping tabs.

WITCHCRAFT'S BIO COURTESY OF Rise Above Records)
It’s fair to say that Witchcraft are not of this time & space. In fact it’s safe to say that they were born at least 30 years too late. It’s also safe to say that Witchcraft play dark rock music the way it’s supposed to be played - effortlessly heavy yet relaxed: with these guys, it just comes naturally without ever sounding forced.
The four evil gypsies who combine to form the Witchcraft magic are seemingly unaffected by today’s technology and tired excuse for rock music, where “new for nu’s sake” equals boring and fake. And, with the album ‘Witchcraft’, they have come together to create something as close to pure as you can get in modern rock music. Witchcraft mastermind, Magnus Pelander has been an active member of the Swedish Doom scene for some time now despite his youthful age, and initially started the band as a tribute to former 13th Floor Elevators legend Roky Erickson and vintage Doom rocker Bobby Liebling of cult legends Pentagram. In 2002 Witchcraft (essentially Magnus aided by friends from the local music scene in Örebro) released a limited 7” pressing of the insistent Sabbath meets Stones strut of “No Angel or Demon” on the Swedish underground label Primitive Art. Rise Above Records were so amazed by what they heard that they signed the band immediately on the strength of this slab of wax alone and even begged for the song’s inclusion, in it’s original form, on the bands debut album.
In early 2003 the band, now completed by Jonas Arnesén - Drums, John Hoyles – Guitar & Ola Henriksson – Bass (the later two also having appeared on the 7” release), began assembling vintage 60’s & 70’s recording equipment in a basement and started work, with producer Jens Henriksson, on their debut album.
That album, ‘Witchcraft’, is a record which conjures up the macabre essence of vintage Pentagram and, of course Black Sabbath whilst incorporating influences as wide apart as the Jethro Tullesque folky prog of “Her Sisters They Were Weak”, and the bludgen riffing style of early 70’s Bang in “I Want You to Know”. Elsewhere, “Schyssta Lögner” evokes memories of Sweden’s original hard rocking progsters Novembre and the inclusion of the cover “Please Don’t Forget Me” from Bobby Leibling’s 1970 pre-Pentagram outfit Stone Bunny pays further homage to his criminally overlooked genius.
While many of their, more generic, contemporaries are more conservative in their approach, Witchcraft are a band that can swing effortlessly from orthodox doom to blues, folk and jazz whilst always remaining shrouded in the cloak of influence from some of the more obscure moments of the 70’s cult rock underground. Yet somehow, despite not adhering to any blueprint, the Witchcraft sound is purer then any other act in the doom scene today.

This is their 7" single - No Angel or Demon b/w You Bury Your Head* Put out on Primitive Art Records in 2003
*This is my personal favorite track.
Self-titled debut full length on Rise Above Records in 2004
Second full-length album called "Firewood" again on Rise Above Records in 2005.

Yeah those are the dudes in Witchcraft on the cover of the latest record, I realize that they might look a little too "MTV metal" but do yourself a favor and overlook that. My friend said that she likes this band because they remind her of Queens of the Stone Age, but more specifically Kyuss. So chew on that, and if that's your thing - seek these Swedes out. I think they do sound like Black Sabbath, like the bio above hints to... Whatever about the comparisons - I'm into it regardless.

www.riseaboverecords.com/witchcraft/witchcraft.html
www.witchcrafthome.com

Ride's "Like A Daydream"

I’m sitting at the restaurant in the hotel we’re staying in, everyone in the room is asleep. I couldn’t sleep very well. Brian and The Bear were taking turns at a snoring contest (that resembled dueling banjos – except it was snoring, I think Brian might have even said a whole audible word once too); looks like I’m a light sleeper this week. We haven’t moved into the cabin/chateau/townhouse we’ve got for Sundance – but we’re supposed to move in there for the next four days today. (We check out at 2p.)
It snowed about 6-8 inches here according to the nice waitres named Diane who is bottle blonde and looks as if she has probably worked here (or some similar dineresque job) for her entire adult life, holy fuck it’s pretty. I mean, okay – obviously I’ve lived in Minneapolis and Chicago so snow isn’t a new thing but snow + wilderness + mountains = holy fuck. I almost want to go skiing, and if I lose my mind at some point in my next 6 days here in Park City, Utah – I probably will. Cross-countrying at least.

So I’ve eaten my breakfast, probably the worst eggs I’ve ever had – but I’ve also never woken up early enough for the complimentary breakfast when I’ve been staying at a hotel before. It’s like pounds of food that you have to pick through. For myself, it was eggs, bacon, and a pancake. Now that I think about it, I wish all places were like this... Because usually I want a tiny little bit of everything, and then I’m forced into choosing some dish I only half want.

This Ride song is probably the best I’ve got in my collection to accompany this super early morning. (it’s like 10:19a Mountain time, but really – I woke up at 8a, after spending an hour awake from 5-6, having only gone to bed at 3a to The Bear & Parag watching Ocean’s Twelve.) While it’s still dreampoppy, it’s more upbeat and has this driving urgency to it that parallels how I feel today. Achingly tired, and yet totally awake.

Absinth makes the heart grow fonder.

Echo Park, Los Angeles, January 2006.

Julianna Hatfield 3's "Spin the Bottle"

(Wasn’t this song on some kind of 90s movie soundtrack?) I don’t have a lot of love for Juliana Hatfield, much less for 3 of her. But I have grown, against my will, to love this song. “He’s a movie star / Only drives rented cars / Met him in a bar / Said I know who you are...,” it’s laughable because my actor friend was the one playing this song as he was swaying his little toosh and making dinner. I’m sure in his head it was written just for him. He seems to think this way in his head lately, and unfortunately for him he reveals this little snippet of conceit to me. Julianna’s tinny little voice can be abrasive to the ears if you’re listening too often or too loud. You either think this song is really cute when you first hear it, or you hate it until your totally gorgeous friend has played it nine times and counting and you’re finally appreciating why people like it. [Though I’m suspicious of my threshold for annoying songs. Did my brain just give up? Is it a you-can’t-beat-em-so-join-em sort of thing?]
Anyway if you haven’t heard the song, its very much like a girl getting used to her new birth control pill, or “oral contraceptive” as they so kindly refer to it in nice clean doctor’s offices. It’s so innocent and hormonal and energetic... Strum strum strum – and then you get this break of two lines with Julianna singing with melody, “Five minutes in a closet with you,” but soon after that you’re back to the frenetic, hurried way of blah blah blah. It’s like she’s trying to get the song out super fast like it’s so important – or like she knows all this is going to come out so she’s trying to get it over with as quickly as possible. It even speeds up towards the end.
My friend rewound “He’s in a bunch of movies / Really stupid movies / It’s not entirely his fault / He can’t control it all,” over and over again in a kind of childlike, girly glee that made me wonder if the tabloids are correct. IS he into boys like I’m into boys? Is this his way of coming out to me? Do we need to have a talk?
Damn you Juliana! I forgot this song existed! What’s next on his play list, “He’s Kissing Christian” by That Dog. Or will he put “But I’m A Cheerleader” in for the dinner time movie? Oh, Jules – don’t worry. I wouldn’t be surprised if the tabloids are correct about his sexuality, I’d love him all the same. But it would be a damn shame because... Giiirl! He’s fly.

Bjørk's "Unravel"

I’ve been in my hometown (town?) of LA for about 3 weeks now. I’m leaving tomorrow, early morning. I’ve grown attached to a certain someone. In our intermingling, we’ve connected over a few great songs and records – agreeing and disagreeing and arguing points. It’s possible, even safe, to say that we’ve grown closer this last trip, our fleeting moments and funny interactions have an expiration date, known as my return flight back into Chicagoland. This morning he left me a mix CD that he must have spent last night making, or perhaps the last few nights making... I am unaware of when he actually had the time to make it frankly – he’s been so busy lately. In any case, he put this song on the mix pillowed in-between a Neil Young song and a Guns N’ Roses one. He really knows how to hit home... I’ll undoubtedly miss my pal.

I think that, lyrically, “Human Behavior” was a great debut representative of Bjørk’s music. It’s almost like a synopsis of her following work, all being obsessed with feelings, both revealed and unsaid. All her songs are studies of human behavior. “Unravel” makes me realize that she’s so human, in the way that it exemplifies vulnerability. Many people can’t appreciate her “weirdness,” you know, the way she expresses herself through fashion. I don’t think those VH1 lists will ever forgive her for that swan dress she wore on the red carpet a few years back. But perhaps that’s what she’s trying to convey – that the way she looks has little to do with her talent, underneath it all – we all have felt this way (or close to it unless of course you’re a heartless slob) at least once in our lives. The way the vocal lines “He’ll never return it” and “When you come back/We'll have to make new love” overlap, it’s like an inner argument... I think she’s a really great example of the fact that through our many aesthetic differences, we are capable of relating through common feelings as a result of life’s experiences.

So far, for me at least, most of her songs have remained timeless and innovative. I revisit albums and experience new thoughts and assumptions about them.