and then La Roux storms back in

so La Roux should have been included in my last couple of end of the year music lists, but i was too much of a shameful dipshit to include them. yet how fitting they find a way to push their way back into the forefront of my life.
i was at work, closing the bar, minding my own fucking business, when some patron just HAD to put 'Bulletproof' on the forsaken jukebox. fuck that thing. straight to hell...if you believe in such a place.
then it all came back and i find myself a slave to those poppy droplets and synthy hooks that fit perfectly in my mouth. yeah, the rest of the singles are great and have been remixed by now, but holy fuck don't ever let go of those original tunes and that androgynous yet immaculate figure in the videos.
i'm off the wagon. one i never really admitted to being on until now. so take it for what its worth. and listen to La Roux already.

Yob, Dark Castle, Indian @ Subterranean

my friends, i have been to some loud shows before, but this past weekend in Chicago may have rocketed to the top as far as my concert going experiences are concerned. volume levels need to be peaking for doom shows to work, and all 3 groups made the floor shake with their thunderous and punishing attacks. and Dark Castle doesn't even have a bassist, so yeah.
my trip down to Chi-town couldn't have gone smoother, despite a few construction hiccups. renting a car with Illinois plates pretty much entitled me to speed like a crazy Illinois person, which i thoroughly enjoyed. The Subterranean is in the Wicker Park hood of Chicago and despite all the hipster connotations that come with that, i came away with a positive feel from the area. the venue itself was one i would love to return to. the actual show room was on the 2nd floor with a balcony and merch area on the 3rd. bars on both levels, of course. what was in those bars was none other than my hometown brew, Point Pale Ale. i think i started to levitate in joy upon my first sip. not that i can't get Point in Madison, it was just a shocking surprise. anyway, the music...
Indian was first up and the band i was most excited to see. hailing from Chicago i expected shit to get rowdy, but that was not the case. either the crowd has seen Indian a few times and are already over them since they signed to Relapse, or they just don't get it. i didn't understand how i could be the one rocking out the hardest to another man's hometown doom outfit, but w/e. the dudes delivered the goods and played some of my favorite tracks from their latest lp "Guiltless". i mean no disrespect to Yob or Dark Castle, but Indian was the highlight of my night.
Dark Castle was a complete mystery to me and all i could really expect was extreme volume. what appeared from behind a wall of smoke was a 2-piece group headed by a female guitarist/growler. it took me a few songs to really get into it, but they laid down the grooves thick and i'm always impressed by female metal vocalists who scream better than guys. it's also worth noting that the drummer was pounding a pretty minimal kit, and i love how drummers not just get by, but explode on them.
Yob took full advantage of the building frenzy in the air and rocked right the fuck out. i ascended to the balcony for the final act and was transfixed at times. equal parts doom avalanche and hypnotic groove, Yob were simply outstanding, even with a fill in drummer. they closed with the title track of "The Great Cessation", a personal favorite and excellent way to end one of the most deafening shows i've ever been to.
all in all, a great time. worth every minute of the drive and lack of sleep. plus Madison is pretty nice at 4.30AM. give these bands a try if you like punishing doom and get out to their gigs if they roll your way.

sludge shall flow forth

i am going to Chicago tomorrow. i can hardly wait. normally i avoid the state of Illinois if i can at all help it (sorry extended family), but there happens to be a portal to the sludge dimension i cannot afford to miss.
Yob, Indian, and Dark Castle will be the gatekeepers leading me into the tar-filled abyss. i bought Yob's 'The great Cessation' about 4-5 months ago and am still blown away by it every time it spins. i've been high on Indian ever since my good pal Jarad introduced me to them a couple years ago. they are so crunchy they deserve their own breakfast cereal. for real. Dark Castle i don't know much of anything about, but if they're on this bill they must be the real deal. plus, Crustcake has blogged them up, and those dudes know what the fuck they're talking about.
a show like this is deserving of a spliff the size of my forearm, but i'm a responsible car renting adult now. or posing as one. so with my ear plugs packed i bode you farewell. if the doom doesn't completely swallow my earthly body, perhaps i will compose a review of the show.

how i love to listen to dfa 1979 and.....

if the first word that came to your mind was 'fuck', well, i hate to disappoint you but this isn't THAT blog (though it might not be far off in the works). i won't argue that skin on skin contact and dfa 1979 don't make a great pair; that'd just be silly. no, the purpose of this ramble is to pay tribute to one of my favorite bands to listen to and...cook!
let's rewind some years ago when dfa 1979 burst into my world. somewhere in the early college years of '04-'05 i witnessed the duo's performance of 'Romantic Rights' on the Conan O'Brien program and my interest took off from there. i even remember rocking out VERY hard and rolling on the ground at a party while blasting "You're a Woman, I'm a Machine". i don't think many friends claimed to know me that night. i spent the next few years with those grooves on my ipod and they guided me through various situations including jogs, homework, party time, sexy time, and just about every other time i could have had.
it wasn't until recently, as in the past 8 months, that i discovered how much fun cooking was with that 'holy shit' bass tone. i've been cooking for part-time work for a better part of the past decade, but only in a couple cases have i been able to exhibit free will with my musical choices. i've had to deal with no control, total control, and teeth grinding compromise, but let me tell you this: if i can listen to dfa 1979 while cooking, can't no dinner rush fuck with me. i find myself in a position now where i have 1 night of 'evan' music in the kicthen because i'm the only one closing. but you'd better believe i cook with a beat in my step and a swing in my hip. though i do wish i could blast some brutality every now and again, i've found a comfort zone thanks to those pink colored elephant dudes.
in honor of cooking and music i've decided to compile some of my other favorite musical motivations whilst in the kitchen over the years.

• few instances beat the owner of the joint walking in to me flying around the kitchen listening to Gaza. i think i left that boss confused, frightened, and off balance, though he was able to recognize the same band a few weeks later. needless to say i came away pretty impressed.

• same boss, new tunes. i was playing Psyopus while working through a lunch rush. he happened to stop in to see if i needed a hand. a welcome gesture, for sure. his 6-9 year old son came wandering in and he immediately showed him the door before the tech-death nightmare could inflict serious damage. chuckles were had.

• if i was sweeping the floors when Led Zeppelin came on the radio, you'd better have kept your head on a swivel. the broom would magically be transformed into a guitar and i would mimic Jimmy Page to the best of my youthful ability. He's seriously one of my favorite guitar players of all time and i loved to show it.

• a radio station we used to listen to in a pizza joint would often do 'triple shots' of some legendary bands, 1 of them was Metallica. a coworker and i would have a weekly debate over the best 'triple shot' and if someone had butted in with anything older than "...And Justice for All" material, there were some serious threats thrown about. Also, the debate over being able to listen to only AC/DC or Metallica. serious stuff, i know.

• when 9 o'clock rolled around in a certain kitchen, Pantera came on. it was that simple. you did not want to get in my way while i was cleaning the deep fryers if 'By Demons be Driven' was playing. it was a true safety hazard.
  

• i used to make a weekly project of portioning coleslaw while listening to David Cross sketches. i'm just lucky i never had to explain some of the terribly funny things he shouts at points in his stand up. i'm also lucky coleslaw didn't involve sharp tools otherwise i might not have 10 fingers.

i love telling sandwiches "i don't need you, i want you". and people too, i guess.
enjoy:
http://viciousneutral.net/post/423875239/classic-music-moment-dfa-1979-on-conan-o-briens-late

i'm gonna do so much (bullshit) this year

i'm gonna scream my lungs out in rants and rambles and get bottles thrown at me
i'm gonna make an insane amount of cash of buy everything i don't need
i'm gonna unlock so many weapons and accomplishments in my video games
imma continue to contradict myself
i'm gonna take a picture
i might go back to school and teach them a thing or two
i'm gonna dance in the streets while it's raining
i'm gonna be active and move in sometimes athletic manners
i'm gonna talk to new people and remember their names
i'm gonna find even tighter jeans
i'm gonna roam the wastelands and fashion some yao guai slippers
i'm going to care more about sports than my own well being
i'm gonna get some new teef
i'm gonna get more tattoos and commit to long sleeves at work
i'm gonna get so much sex this year
i'm gonna let myself feel feelings
i'm gonna get 10th prestige and a nuke
i'm gonna talk to you and you'll remember why you don't associate with me outside of fbook
i'm gonna wear my Clay Matthews jersey out of season and tackle random people
imma visit SP and not black out
i'm going to do something meaningful
i'm going to stop making a mess
i'm going to make an effort
i'm probably just gonna continue to be an asshole, but less of one to you
i'm gonna wear more of my clothes or get rid of them
i'm gonna find something to be happy about and ruin it
i'm gonna work on my zombie survival skills
i'm gonna vote with my dollars

i'm gonna prognosticate and procrastinate and prove to myself that there isn't much to get excited about. nothing will ever be as good as it seems because i'm too good at lying to myself. i'm gonna exercise my american right to complain about the comforts of life and cry for someone else to make it better. i'm gonna write a lot of trivial crap this year. cheers.

divots in wax

somehow i always have money to afford new music. that may be the one steady economical trend that has existed over the past decade+ of my life. i have a formidable collection of Radio Kaos receipts to confirm that, as well as shine a light on my maturation in music. i have physical evidence of everything from coal chamber to slayer to elliott smith to eyedea and abilities (and then usually back to slayer). i also still have an odd practice of smelling new cd's when i open them. for some reason a familiar smell takes me back to the joy and stress of buying new music to hide from my parents. some cd's have THAT smell, others don't. even though i was older and didn't have to hide music anymore, when i bought Agoraphobic Nosebleed's "Frozen Corpse Stuffed with Dope" it had that smell. most likely because it's one of the sickest pieces of musical terrorism ever.
though i'm now over a hundred miles away from my beloved Radio Kaos, it's still hard NOT to make weekly trips to what is easily one of my favorite places in Madison, Ear Wax Records. i remember blood rushing to both my heart and groin when i first walked in some years ago, and nearly every trip to Madison involved a stop inside the store. i think Amoeba in LA has a pretty awesome metal section and all, but Ear Wax is top notch because it IS metal. so i do have to go elsewhere to get my indie fix, but i can live with that. happily.
since i've moved to Madison i think i've made 5 trips to Ear Wax, but walked away with only 2 cds. the rest of my purchases have been strictly vinyl, as it has become my preferred format lately. in fact my last 3 visits have been exclusively vinyl, and the online order i placed this afternoon was 3 more LP's. yes, i am totally taking part in the hip reemergence of vinyl. owning a cd isn't what it used to be. ever since i bought a computer, all cds have gone straight into digital form for my ipod and some are rarely played again. you can probably see where one might cut out a step in that process.
now it started out that i would only get really sludgy stoner stuff on vinyl, but i've been expanding on that ever since. im at the point to where i am now buying albums on vinyl that i already own on cd. that's not to say i have a huge vinyl collection because i certainly do not, but i have no qualms about repurchasing music that i like on a different format. i just bought 2 Daughters LP's that i already own, and i plan on buying Gaza's latest once the mighty slab of hardcore is finally delivered on wax. i certainly don't go out of my way to buy stuff i already have, but albums i really like and usually listen to all the way through are strong candidates.
artwork is another consideration that cannot be overlooked. there are some awesome possibilities that the gatefold holds that cd's just can't deliver, the most basic being size. take any album cover you like, now imagine it 6 times bigger. yeah.
to make a final point, buying vinyl is just more satisfying. maybe because it is bigger i feel i'm walking away with something with more meaning attached to it. in the end it's personal preference, and i'm not saying any format is better than the other. what i am saying is that i've found a new way to have fun collecting music.

it's a capital kind of strain

this thing still exists? i thought it would have vanished from the digital realm due to my inactivity some time ago, but it remains. and perhaps more importantly, i remember the password to access it.
much has changed in the near year since my last post. i have finally uprooted myself from my hometown of Stevens Point and been transplanted in Madison. 2010 started off quite rocky, but the year has pulled a severe 180 and positive growth has been reported in each quarter. i am set to end 2010 living the dream i have had for far too long. perhaps living alone in an efficiency apartment wasn't a specific part of that dream, but alas, i'm here. dreaming.
these last 6 months have almost gone by in light speed. i doubt i could recall all the good times had if i tried. and no, not because i was blacked out all the time. though i had my moments. it was a special time and place to be, at least for me. the people i've been fortunate enough to enjoy that time with probably don't know how much i appreciate them. and really, trying to explain it would be so awkward that it would border on insincerity. but as a general shout out into the binary coded world, i want to thank everyone who has helped me live in 2010. i hope you've enjoyed my company as much as i have yours. and believe me i miss it.