Magnetized

I have a Google alert set up for Solid Sound 2012 and just got a link to an interview with Joe Thompson, the head of Mass MoCA. It's a pretty long but interesting article, about the economic realities of the museum and the impact of the Solid Sound Festival, etc., but buried within the article is this little nugget: That's the first I've heard of any specific timeframe information. We know they'll be at Forecastle on July 15 and at a Swedish festival on August 10, so I guess we should stay on the alert for maybe some northeast shows after Forecastle.

At my fun little part time job at a video store, one of my co-workers is, I think, the biggest Elliott Smith fan around. (I don't know who's more obsessive--him about ES or me about JT!) He's very active on some fansite and has put together a huge archival collection of unreleased demos and stuff. His name is Patrick and if anyone here is a big fan they may know him already. If not, you could PM me and I would be glad to pass your info along to Patrick if you want some of this. I like many of his songs but to be honest I haven't found time to give too much of it a fair chance.

Thanks, Scalzunfield, for the info about the sale on Amazon. I had all those old records on vinyl years ago and only replaced a few on CD, and I just realized I had never transferred them over to my iPod. So I just made a big ol' buy on Amazon and will be busily adding lots of the Dan to the iPod soon.

Jon Stewart was typically brilliant on this issue on his March 5 show. After dismissing Rush Limbaugh as "Extremely Loud and Incrediby Gross", he then skewered the Republican candidates for their trivializing his comments, implying that Limbaugh's only mistake was semantics, not reasoning. He said "Why do they not think his reasoning was wrong? Because they think the same thing!" He then went on to show a series of damning clips from various Fox news contributors all saying essentially the same thing as Limbaugh. It might be funny if it weren't so sadly, predictably stupid.

I could have phrased that better. I was trying to cover too many bases in one pithy post. No, Limbaugh isn't supported by public funds, but if he were on PBS or NPR it would be the same principle. If advertisers OR public funds are paying for your forum, they can withdraw that support when you cross a line. It isn't a bright, immutable line, either--it's subject to an evolving standard of what's considered socially acceptable.

This Limbaugh stuff has nothing at all to do with free speech. Yes, he's free to say whaever he wants to, and advertisers and networks are free to pull the plug when they no longer want to support it. If that were to happen, then Rush would still be free to stand on a street corner and spew his vile horseshit out to anyone who wanted to listen. That's the free speech we're all entitled to. We are not "entitled" to have a broadcast forum that is supported by advertisers or public funds.

Just thought I'd mention that this show is now up on www.sooutoftune.org. I'm listening to it right now and it sounds great. In fact, the selection of shows has hugely increased since the site was launched recently and the access issues seem to have gotten fixed. I'm addicted.

I hear there's a band playing there you might like.

Haha, Donna. Next summer in North Adams, girl!

Check out this new demo from Spencer. It's gotten picked up by Pitchfork, Stereogum and lots of other music related sites. I'm certainly not the first to notice a resemblance to Summerteeth-era Wilco, but it's a really good song in its own right. I am so impressed by this kid's talent!

I feel your pain, victor79. Like it or not, the crowd energy really does have an effect on the show, and I would be disappointed too. But--and I really don't mean this facetiously--you get to live in Paris, so you can console yourself with that! Maybe you just have to travel somewhere else to find a responsive audience for the music you love.

I just saw a blog post about this concert and thought it was worth sharing. Interesting to read such an enthusiastic review from someone who doesn't know too much about the band other than Jeff Tweedy and the fact that he just loves the music!

I found a gold bracelet once. We were on a road trip and stopped for a picnic at one of those roadside parks along the highway, the ones with outdoor barbecue grills. We were just getting the coals going when I saw something shiny half buried in the dirt. It was a really heavy, solid gold bracelet. I asked around the park to see if the owner was there but no luck, so I just considered it a happy find, and I still wear it. And I also found a small bag of weed once, on the curb near the gutter when I was taking a walk in my neighborhood. I didn't look around for the owner in that case.

Welcome to your new home, where you can let your Wilco love run free and flap its little wings around! You're among friends here.

Something about this version (which I've never heard before, so thanks for that) reminds me of that Saturday Night Live bit with Jimmy Fallon, Horatio Sanz and Tracy Morgan playing "I Wish It Was Christmas Today"

Hey, I resemble that remark!

Last minute decision to see Cowboy Junkies tonight at the Attucks Theatre in Norfolk, a tiny, historic little venue. 7th row center, which was really lucky since I had sort of forgotten about this show till a friend reminded me yesterday.

Or maybe the Tweedys have figured out some way to snatch the tickets out of the hands of the scalpers and put them where they belong! Wishful thinking, but wouldn't that be nice?

Yay--center pit, Row D for St. Augustine. And Tampa 2 days before that. Road trip!

Anyone have any idea what the ticket limit is for the St. Augustine show presale? A friend and I are going and together we need 4 tickets. I suspect it'll be a madhouse at 10AM on Front Gate and we don't want to get our signals crossed. Of course, no one is there to answer this question right now. Any thoughts?

Check out http://dannymiller.typepad.com/. This is a blog written by Sue Miller Tweedy's brother Danny, called Jew Eat Yet. The Feb. 14 entry is a great behind the scenes look at the Grammys. I highly recommend his blog in general, as well as Spencer Tweedy's. There is some serious writing talent in that Miller/Tweedy gene pool.

How was the Portlandia show? I'd love to see that if they were touring anywhere near me.

I wind up checking out lots of random blogs when a Twitter or FB post I'm interested in has a link to them, but the only ones I have bookmarked and check on a regular basis are www.brooklynvegan.com and www.spencertweedy.com.

I'm pretty excited about some of the upcoming shows I'm going to. (Some more than others. . .) March 21--Rufus Wainwright at the Jefferson, Charlottesville March 30 and 31--both Tweedy solo shows at the Vic!!! April 18--Drive-By Truckers at the Norva, Norfolk May 24--St. Vincent at the National, Richmond Here's one I'd like an opinion from you guys on--Minus the Bear. They're right here in Norfolk at the Norva on Saturday night and tickets are just $20. Worth seeing?

Update: Now I feel kind of bad. (No, that isn't true. . . ) Just got a response to my most recent correspondence with the scalper. He/she said: "I didn't realize it was a benefit. I am not in the area. If you want a pair you may have for $250 which covers my costs Ebay Paypal and FedEx. Offer $250 and I will accept." I'm posting this just to close the circle on my little story above. I'm going to refrain from continuing any kind of dialogue with this person, and of course I am declining their very generous offer.