Floating Away

Doveman and David Thomas Broughton @ Tangier

It was an incredible night of music last night at Tangier as David Thomas Broughton and Doveman both played incredible sets.  I arrived late thinking that I would just catch Doveman's set, but instead walked in right in the middle of DTB's unbelievable performance.

David Thomas Broughton is a master of the loop player.  He makes you want to go out and buy one just so you can do the same things he does, but then you realize you don't have the voice that he does.  He sounds eerily similar to Antony live, and his live show is a bit remiscient of CocoRosie.  Broughton employs a backpack full of sounds.  He used many odd instruments and a rewinding tape player to sample.  He also walked into the audience for a song and added to his song by hitting glasses on a nearby table (see photo above). 

Broughton continued to play as Doveman took the stage and then Broughton became the sample man for them as well.  They played a short set (35 minutes) but it is so clear how talented these musicians are.  If you haven't picked up the Doveman CD, The Acrobat, yet, I highly recommend you do so.  It is soft and warm and in headphones it's as if Thomas Bartlett is whispering in your ear. The live show did the same, except they kept building and building and soon enough Bartlett was still whispering but with a full live sound that sounded amazing in the space of Tangier.  They closed with a medley of sorts that covered both Bjork's Venus as a Boy and Ryan Adam's La Cienga Just Smiled.  Two songs you would think have nothing in common but when reworked as a Doveman song were just amazing.

Photos from Peru

I have been very lazy to share photos from my trip to Peru, but finally got around to setting up some space on my .mac account to do it.

To see all my photos from Peru, click HERE.

Kyle Andrews

I have thoroughly been enjoying Amos in Ohio by Kyle Andrews all day.  Kyle is a Chicago native, but now living in Nashville and you definitely hear some of that in his music.  When listening to his cd, I clearly hear both cities influenced.  There is a lot of indie rock on this album with the fluttering sounds and such, but also a lot of Nashville.  The songs are very songwriter oriented and there is the slightest bit of twang.  I think they are pushing him as some new Conor Oberst, and I hear that at times, but you definitely hear some Amos Lee and eels at times too. Its nice music for a sunny day.  

Kyle on Myspace
An Interview with Kyle from Sixeyes

MP3: Kyle Andrews - Please Respond
MP3: Kyle Andrews - Self Help Tapes

Good for Zo

Couldn't be happier for Alonzo.  I couldn't think of a better person to get a NBA Championship.

The Director's Label Series

This morning, I woke up, and like every morning and checked Pitchfork to see which new album I am missing out on owning only to find that they had compiled a wonderful new list.  This time it wasn't the best albums of the year or the decade, but simply 100 awesome music videos.  They made it very clear that they were sticking with the MTV era videos and anything by the Director's Label Series was out. 

In my opinion, they got it all wrong. They should have only stuck with the Director's Label Music Videos.  Seven music video directors have been featured in these DVD collections and below is a little YouTube sampling of my favorite videos from three of them.

Spike Jonze

Anytime people spontaneously start dancing, I just smile. 

Michel Gondry

When my parents first got a video camera, I used to try to make stop-motion movies with my Lego men. This isn't even his best music video with the White Stripes, but its visual so amazing.

Mark Romanek

I get chills everytime I watch this video. 

Bush and the 2004 Election

I really dislike Rolling Stone. I am not even sure why I get it anymore, but I do.  I care so little about it that I actually never even changed the address to my current address when I moved to my own apartment here.  So, everytime I see my parents, they hand me this big pile of non-important mail and the latest Rolling Stone is always there.

I am not sure where they jumped the shark, but the articles are rarely about anything good and the music they support is either not good at all, or extremely 5 minutes ago.

But, this month's issue appeared and a story caught my eye. Above the picture of half-naked Red Hot Chili Peppers: "Did Bush Steal the 2004 Election? How 350,000 Votes Disappeared in Ohio by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr."

Now, we are talking.

The article is amazing. RFK Jr. did an incredible amount of research and interviewed countless of people involved in the 2004 elections only to really come to the conclusion that the only conceivable way Bush won the 2004 election was due to election fraud.

There are many points to this article and I dont want to get into all of them, but the one I found most interesting is the strength and accuracy of exit polling. The following paragraphs are taken from the article. I strongly urge you to read the entire thing here and then go find a small hole to cry in:

Over the past decades, exit polling has evolved into an exact science. Indeed, among pollsters and statisticians, such surveys are thought to be the most reliable. Unlike pre-election polls, in which voters are asked to predict their own behavior at some point in the future, exit polls ask voters leaving the voting booth to report an action they just executed. The results are exquisitely accurate: Exit polls in Germany, for example, have never missed the mark by more than three-tenths of one percent.

On the evening of the vote, reporters at each of the major networks were briefed by pollsters at 7:54 p.m. Kerry, they were informed, had an insurmountable lead and would win by a rout: at least 309 electoral votes to Bush's 174, with fifty-five too close to call. In London, Prime Minister Tony Blair went to bed contemplating his relationship with President-elect Kerry.

As the last polling stations closed on the West Coast, exit polls showed Kerry ahead in ten of eleven battleground states -- including commanding leads in Ohio and Florida -- and winning by a million and a half votes nationally. The exit polls even showed Kerry breathing down Bush's neck in supposed GOP strongholds Virginia and North Carolina.  Against these numbers, the statistical likelihood of Bush winning was less than one in 450,000.  ''Either the exit polls, by and large, are completely wrong,'' a Fox News analyst declared, ''or George Bush loses.''

But as the evening progressed, official tallies began to show implausible disparities -- as much as 9.5 percent -- with the exit polls. In ten of the eleven battleground states, the tallied margins departed from what the polls had predicted. In every case, the shift favored Bush. Based on exit polls, CNN had predicted Kerry defeating Bush in Ohio by a margin of 4.2 percentage points. Instead, election results showed Bush winning the state by 2.5 percent. Bush also tallied 6.5 percent more than the polls had predicted in Pennsylvania, and 4.9 percent more in Florida.

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm Back . . .

I have returned from Peru. I want to give a great big shout out to Nikki and Chone for helping me while I was away. Hopefully, this will inspire Chone to post more when I am living 20 feet from him.

A proper post about my trip to come soon, but until then, enjoy Father's Day.

The Colony Cafe: A Great Addition to West LA

While there are many places you don't want to eat at, The Colony Cafe is my new favorite restaurant.  Seriously, this place is great, and you should all eat here at least three times a week...we can't let it go away.

The Colony Cafe is located at 10937 W Pico Blvd.  It's reminiscent of a New England summer beach diner with great outdoor seating.  And the food is amazing.  You can choose from delicious burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches and salads.  I highly recommend the Cobb salad made with freshly grilled chicken and thick, crispy bacon.  Dan is a huge fan of the B.T.L.A. Burger.  Either way, you won't be disappointed.

But wait, there's more.  Attached to the Cafe is Papa's Porch.  Run by the same management, Papa's Porch is a coffee/ice cream shop.  Local sorority girls will be happy to know they use only fat-free soft serve.

Four stars.

My First C

Seriously.  How on earth do you get a C grade these days?  Even the Norms around the corner on Pico has a B.  When I used to live in Hollywood, I would pass Eat-a-Pita all the time, but I never stopped.  I've always really liked the large patio area they've got.  And the ivy looks nice.  Unless of course, that's where the rats live.

How do you feel about eating at a C?

The Day the Heavyweights Came to School

So, some of you guys may not know that before Dan was "Coro Dan" or "Poncho Dan," he was "Mr. Nieman" and teaching elementary school in the Bronx.  Not only have I taken over his blog, but I have also taken over his classroom this year.  At Indie Don't Dance, I blog about my students.  Schools are interesting places and kids have funny and not-so-funny things to share.  Here's one of those funnies...

I'm stealing my post title from Wes because it is simply the best way to put it. Casey Shea and Jeff Jacobson from The Undisputed Heavyweights played an acoustic show at my elementary school today. I'm sure it was the youngest, but not rowdiest, bunch they have played for. According to my second graders, the set was "awesome," "loud," "funny," and "so much fun." Desiree said that Casey and Jeff should "be very proud of themselves because they gave their best effort and didn't have stage fright." Although I was digging on "Lartigue," the definite highlight of the show for the kids was when Casey and Jeff covered Outkast's "Hey, Ya!" Some of the kids couldn't figure out when Outkast had the time to teach Casey and Jeff that song. Hmmm?

The show went well... except when Rafael dropped Jeff's guitar.  But we won't talk about that.

The Undisputed Heavyweights: Roll Your Windows Down
The Undisputed Heavyweights: Back to You

There won't be any kids, but New York City can see all five Heavyweights at Rockwood Music Hall on Sunday, June 25th. The band will be recording a live EP. Hey, ya!