music

KHUBS Radio And Carissa’s Wierd Part I

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Back in my LoFi days I stumbled upon Carissa’s Wierd (yes, “weird” is supposed to be misspelled, I’m not sure why, maybe just to trick people) and am glad I did. Carissa’s Wierd is a rainy day band that has fit my mood perfectly over the last week or two. I missed their last show in Denver this past summer, which sucks, because I was aware they were playing but I wasn’t aware of their (very well publicized) break up – I wouldn’t get the chance to see them live again.

Carissa’s Wierd can be described as LoFi, orchestral, folky, pop. Their songs are slight and filigreed. I can relate to them in the way that they don’t command your attention as much as wait for you to notice them. Jenn Ghetto and Matthew Brooke’s boy/girl vocals once again sucker me in with their understated resonance. Musically the blend of acoustic and electric guitars combined with violin, piano, drums, bass, and occasional accordion all blend together into a breathtaking, intoxicating mess. But it’s best if you listen for yourself of course.

Carissa’s Wierd split up in July of 2003 leaving behind three LPs. Their latest album “Songs About Leaving” was released by Sad Robot Records and can be easily purchased from them. However, their first two releases, Ugly But Honest 1996-1999 and You Should Be At Home Here were released on the now defunct Brown Records. Sad Robot has announced reissues of these two albums last year but they have failed to materialize. This is where KHUBS Radio comes to the rescue. Since I started hubs radio, each episode I have provided you with at least a couple of songs that are out of print, rare, or hard to find. For the next week or so I’ll be playing entire Ugly But Honest 1996-1999 album, after that I’ll play the entire You Should Be At Home Here, And then I’ll play a live set. I’ll announce it here each time I change it. I kick off our session the way Carissa’s Wierd kicked off all they’re live shows – with a tune called Heather Rhodes. Enjoy!
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I Am Republic Plaza

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The I Am The World Trade Center show last night was really enjoyable. The opening bands were the local The Very Hush Hush who were just ok. Nothing special really and they only played like 3 songs. The other opener was Paper Lions, they were pretty good, great rhythm (bass and drums) section. They sounded a bit like The Clash to me. You can listen to their entire album at there website if you’re interested. I Am The World Trade Center played a great set. They claimed the altitude here pooped them out but they danced through the entire night. They did a partial cover of Berlin’s “Metro”, a great cover of the Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me” (a song near and dear to my heart – the album isn’t released yet but you can listen to it here) and for the encore they did a cover of New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle” at my screamed out request. I got to the lounge early hoping that it might actually start at a decent time. Unfortunately there was two opening bands and they didn’t even get on stage till 11:30. This, combined with hanging out with Dan and Amy and drinking beer all night. They are super smart (Dan’s an engineer and Amy is getting her masters in costume history and teaches at the University of Georgia) and a fun couple to be around and I was glad I got a chance to meet them. It was a fun night over all. I just can’t handle going out till 2:30 a.m. on weeknights anymore. I’m exhausted.

KHUBS Radio And Hammers Of Misfortune

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I can’t remember how I stumbled upon Hammers Of Misfortune, but I sure am glad I did. As far as purely creative metal goes, these guys (and gals) got it. I’m not quite sure how to define them – black metal, heavy goth, prog rock, theatrical fantasy, dark opera, celtic metal. Really, they are a little bit of all of these mixed and played in a way that creates a genre of its own. Mostly they are just pure unadulterated metal. These are incredibly talented musicians that buck convention and create a sound that is fresh and exciting in the world of metal. The band consists of five members: John Cobbett (also of Ludicra), Chewy Marzolo, Mike Scalzi, Jamie Myers (ex-Like Flies on Flesh, South Mouth), Sigrid Sheie (ex-Menstrual Tramps). Jamie and Sigrid are not only incredibly hot, they also provide instrumental prowess and the female vocals which really round out their sound. Plus, we all know I’m a sucker for female voice. Fans of exclusively polished and commercial melodic metal should avoid this like the plague. This shit is the real deal and KHUBS radio has some for you. The first six songs are currently out of print. They off of Hammer Of Misfortune’s first album, “The Bastard”, a concept album in which a different member in the band sings each character. The next two songs are from H.O.M.’s most recent album called “The August Engine”. Before they were called Hammers Of Misfortune, they were called Unholy Cadaver. Unholy Cadaver released one three-song album called “Demo #1”, the song “Unsheathe The Sword Of Blasphemy” is off of that album, which I believe is no longer in print as well. The last song is an extremely really hard to find one; it’s a song called “Galactic Police” by Thunderchimp, which was the seed for Unholy Cadaver which then became Hammers Of Misfortune. Anyway, screw the history lesson and go listen to the music. Enjoy.

KHUBS Radio And Azure Ray

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I saw Azure Ray for the first time by mistake. A few years Ago I was going went to see Bright Eyes play at the Paramount and Azure Ray opened up for them. I was so pleasantly surprised by them that I ended up enjoying their performance more than the one I bought the ticket for. I bought the self-titled CD that night from Maria Taylor as she was working the merch table. I was pleasantly surprised to find out they sounded better live than on the CD (despite Conor Oberst’s crazy vibrato mucking things up in the background on a couple of songs). The women of Azure Ray have those sweet whispery female vocals that I’m a complete sucker for. And although their voices are breathy and sexy, their songs are so goddamn sad it feels like a punch in the gut. On KHUBS Radio I put Azure Ray’s entire first self-titled full length album (songs #01-11), the entire November EP (songs #12-17), one song (#18) off of the Burn And Shiver Album, and two songs (#19-20) off the most recent Hold On Love album. Enjoy.
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KHUBS Radio And Grey Tuesday

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So I’ve been working on putting together KHUBS Radio for a little while now and I thought what better time to announce it than on Grey Tuesday.

See, DJ Danger Mouse created a remixed album consisting of Jay-Z’s Black Album and the Beatles White Album, and called it the Grey Album. Jay-Z’s record label, Roc-A-Fella, released an a capella version of his Black Album specifically to encourage remixes like this one. However, EMI claims copyright control of the Beatles November 25, 1968 released, White Album. As a result, EMI has sent cease and desist letters demanding that stores destroy their copies of the album and that websites remove them from their sites. I personally feel that if sampled music is recorded in a respectful and artistically positive way, and that the end result is fundamentally different than the original, that artists should be able release their works without worry about copyright infringement. DJ Danger Mouse’s Grey Album does just that. I’m not sure what EMI is afraid of, the Grey Album is a completely new piece of art wonderfully different from what the Beatles created. I can’t imagine the Grey Album could have any effect on the sales of the incredibly popular (and rightfully so) White Album (except maybe introduce a few hip-hop fans that have somehow escaped the unavoidable genius that is the White Ablum).

The point is we cannot allow these corporations to continue censoring art; we need common-sense reforms to the copyright law that can make sampling legal and practical for artists. So for my part, in participation of GreyTuesday, which is sponsored by Downhill Battle, you can listen to DJ Danger Mouse’s Grey Album by clicking here or the KHUBS Radio link over there on the right for a pop-up to listen to while you’re doing other stuff. Enjoy!

True Stories

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I’ve basically been snowed in the for the last few evenings. We only got like three or four inches worth over the last couple of days, not enough to actually snow anyone in, but it was enough to keep me from wanting to go out. I spent some of my recent indoors time staying late at working and doing some design stuff.

The night before I watched a really cool flick called True Stories. First off this movie was starred in and directed by David Byrne. And being a huge fan of both his music and his artwork may have effected my opinion of this movie, but I thought it was great. It was “A film about a bunch of people in Virgil Texas” who are observing the states sesquicentennial: the 150th anniversary and “a celebration of special-ness”. David Byrne did a wonderful job with his perfect alliteration, straight face, and odd-ball comments – “This car is not a rental. It’s privately owned”. Yet, he still makes his unabashed annotations on mass-consumerism, fashion, architecture, corporate America, and marriage without being satirical (for the most part) without being pretentious. The quirky characters were incredibly entertaining. Make no doubt, this movie is a musical, with some of the songs written specifically for the film. My favorite was “Dream Operator” sung during the fashion show. Anyway, great flick, go rent it.

A Rotten End To A Lovely Day

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Did you ever think when a hearse goes by,
That you may be the next to die?
They take you out to the family plot,
And there you wither, decay, and rot.
They wrap you up in a bloody sheet,
And then they bury you six-feet deep.
And all goes well for a week or two,
And then things start to happen to you.
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out,
The ants play pinochle on your snout!
One of the worms that’s not so shy,
Crawls in one ear and out one eye.
They call their friends and their friends’ friends, too,
They’ll make a horrid mess of you!
And then your blood turns yellow-green,
And oozes out like whipping cream.
[Spoken] Darn, me without a spoon!
Your eyes fall out, your teeth decay
A rotten end to a lovely day
So never laugh when a hearse goes by,
For you may be the next to die.

The Good Stuff

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Because I refuse to leave the last negative entry sitting here for three days – a few positive things going on.

  • Hubsville has a few fun construction projects in the works if the municipal bonds go through.
  • Long weekend – need I say more!
  • Fireworks, friends, BBQ’s, and Bike Rides in addition to general good times are planned over the next 72 hours.
  • I’ve had the pleasure of eating sushi and drinking Kirin Ichibans for dinner the last two nights in a row. Now if I can only fend off the mercury poisoning.
  • And a couple of great tunes to get everyone in the spirit of things.
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    • Of Montreal

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    I went to see Of Montreal (one of their better songs can be found here) last night. I had to coax myself out though. It was raining like crazy and I knew I wouldn’t be home till sometime after midnight (my head ended up hitting the pillow at 1:20. ugg) and I was just feeling generally lazy. But I went and it was worth it.

    The show was held at the Larimer Lounge. This is the first time I’ve been there and it was hardly a lounge, more of an ordinary dingy bar – in somebody’s basement. Something akin to the 15th Street Tavern. The stage was a smallish platform backed by black sheets nailed to the wall. It’s small and smoky and intimate and I can’t decide if I liked it or not. However the lounge does have a great schedule including Essex Green, Dressy Bessy (they were in the crowd last night) and Mates Of State in the next couple of months.
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    Music 5

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    1. What was the first band you saw in concert?
    I’m almost ashamed to admit it because it takes my cool factor go down to about two, but it was Michael Jackson during the Victory Tour. I had seen some small bands before that, but it was my first real concert.

    2. Who is your favorite artist/band now?
    It’s always changing, but right now its Mates Of State.

    3. What’s your favorite song?
    Again, it’s always changing but right now its Flicker by Calamine

    4. If you could play any instrument, what would it be?
    The sitar.

    5. If you could meet any musical icon (past or present), who would it be and why?
    Perry Ferral would be fun to party with. It would also be cool to spend a weekend with Jerry Garcia.

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