Stinkin' Phish
My earliest remembrance of even knowing about Phish came during middle school as I soon noticed that pretty much every hippie high school owned the same shirt with the same logo. And honestly, that kind of homogenization really turned me off to the idea of the band. The Dead, to me, appeared different for some reason – maybe because they seemed to exist in some ethereal past that I couldn’t quite grasp, but Phish was not to be for my listening pleasure.
It wasn’t until I began college that I heard two things that really changed my mind about Trey Anastasio and company (shocker). They were both live discs dedicated to covering an album that the band held dear. The first was the first Talking Heads record that was released in 1977. An album from the punk era covered by these folks? It turned out to be pretty enthralling – who knew. So too was Phish’s attempt to cover the Velvet Underground.
When I was first able to actually appreciate the musicianship that the band had to offer, I recall thinking, how many of their fans really wanted to hear the Velvet Underground? I didn’t have an answer then, but it kind of doesn’t matter since Phish still has one of the strongest concert draws of any band currently touring the states.
And if you’ll notice I said, “currently touring.” After an extended sabbatical where members worked with various other ensembles, including Mike Gordon’s foray into duets with Leo Kottke, Phish is slated to headline Bonnaroo this coming summer.
Over a number of years, Bonnaroo has undergone some changes: crowd swells, stricter security and stylistic shifts in music to encompass a greater swath of American culture. But the inclusion of Phish to this year’s talent-glutted roster will again assure a record breaking turn-out for the festival this coming June in Manchester, Tennessee.
If you’re still not convinced by the inclusion of just his one band, take a look at last year’s performances. The folks included on the DVD seem far removed from just the accepted perception of the festival. Come on – give it a chance.
Biological Treasure Trove: Over 1,000 New Species Discovered
Taxes. Right.
Troubled times obviously require some sort of drastic, new thinking. But taxation usually won’t get you too many supporters as New York Gov. David Patterson is soon to find out for himself.
For the last decade, everyone on earth has been attempting to work out some new model to profit from the internet. There’s no reason not to think that way, but what Gov. Patterson is proposing might not work to his political benefit.
The 88 new tax proposals by Patterson, which includes a digital music tax, also taxes movie tickets, taxi rides, carbonated beverages, cigars, massages, wine and beer. And while that actually sounds like a fun evening out, the New York government is attempting to cut a $15.4 billion budget shortfall.
Each item is slated to be accompanied by a separate tax and the digital music tax is purportedly going to come in at 4 percent. So on an album of music, the tax might be as little as 40 cents – that depends on the length of the disc that you’re purchasing and how many tracks there are, of course
This measure doesn’t really seem too extreme, but to New Yorkers, it may seem like another slap in the face during an economic downturn. But if it serves to eliminate a state wide budget issue, why not just accept it? Of course all of this is predicated on the assumption that the new tax won’t drive more internet users to illegally acquire music thus nullifying the efforts of this tax. We’ll have to wait and see if the tax becomes law or not before we make grand speculations like that though.
NOFX @ 25
If you know NOFX, you know that they’ve been around for a while. 1983 seems like a lifetime ago and music has changed exponential in that time. Well, most music.
Punk manages to remain relatively static with various sub-genres cropping up every so often to create another niche buying market. But skate punk? Well, there’s not too much to change about that.
After the initial wave of late ‘70s and early ‘80s punk and hardcore bands in LA (think The Germs, Black Flag and The Adolescents) new groups owing a great debt to their predecessors started popping up. And while NOFX originally formed in Berkeley, they moved very soon to the south.
So now NOFX is twenty five years old. Singer, Fat Mike, runs Fat Wreck Chords and played an instrumental role in developing the Warped Tour, which now spans North America attracting thousands of fans to each event.
On the band’s website, they’ve divided up their career into several different eras in order for fans to better understand their changes and progressions.
The Three Piece Era, 1983 – 1987: Fat Mike, Smelly, Melvin The Casillas Era, 1987 – 1988: Fat Mike, Smelly, Melvin, Dave Casillas The Kidwiler Era, 1988 – 1991: Fat Mike, Smelly, Melvin, Steve Kidwiler The El Hefe Era, 1991 – Present: Fat Mike, Smelly, Melvin, El Hefe
To commemorate the amazing feat of keeping a three chord punk band around for as long as they have, NOFX is playing a series of shows with Youth Brigade to display all that’s gone on in their music over time. Former band members are slated to appear and perform songs from the era that they were members of the band. It sounds like a pretty good idea, but I’ve heard that “They’ve actually Gotten Worse Live!”
Check out the dates: 2/04/09 San Diego, CA at The House of Blues w/ Youth Brigade, Smoke or Fire 2/05/09 Los Angeles, CA at The Fonda w/ Youth Brigade, Channel 3, Sin 34 2/15/09 San Francisco, CA at Slim’s w/ Youth Brigade, Turbonegra
You pathetic spellers
Puppy Woes
Get your 80s fix at 2080s Wednesdays
Sankta Lucia Holiday Cookies
When I was ten, a Swedish boy named Sven Sjorberg moved with his family from Sweden to New Hampshire, because his father's company had transferred his father to the N.H. office.
Sven had almost no English, and so set about learning it with a will, and the teacher provided opportunities for Sven to teach us a little about Sweden, and a little Swedish. One of the traditions I remember best was the Feast of Sankta Lucia, or Santa Lucia for Italians, Saint Lucy in English.
According to medieval legend, Lucia was the child of a fourth century Roman family, in Sicilly, during the Diocletian persecution of Christians. She took an oath of chastity, and refused to marry. Her dowry was given to the poor. The non-Christian man who had wanted to marry her, instead, denounced her as a Christian, making her life forfeit. Miraculously unable to move her or burn her, the guards stabbed and killed her, after torturing her, and, in some versions of her life, blinding her. She is said to have died on December 13.
In the old calendar, December 13th was the longest night of the year, so between the date of her death, and her blindness, and the fact that the root of Lucy is "luc," or "light," St. Lucy's feast day has strong associations with light. In Sweden, on the 13th, young girls dress in white with red ribbons, and wear crowns with lit candles, in celebration of the saint. Young boys carry a candle and wear white clothes, and hats ornamented with stars, and the children sing St. Lucia songs in a procession. Afterwards, there are special ginger cookies, pepparkakor, and saffron buns, lussekatter.
In some Swedish households, even now, the oldest girl will dress in her Sankta Lucia outfit, and carry a breakfast of hot coffee and fresh lussekatter to her parents, who have breakfast in bed. (There's something to be said for reinstating this delightful custom on the morning of the darkest day of the year).
I had enormous fun participating in the Lucia procession at a local church, all those years ago, despite being a little nervous about wearing a burning candle on a crown, given its close proximity to my very long hair. I remember too that Sven's mother brought everyone at school heart-shaped pepparkakor, all those years ago. I make them sometimes, still. If you'd like to try, here are a few recipes, and some more here for lussekatter and pepparkakor. The lussekatter can be par-baked, then removed before they are done, cooled, and frozen. The pepparkakor will keep fresh and crisp for a couple of weeks, stored in an air-tight container, but they too will keep well in the freezer. Take them out of the oven before they are quite cooked, cool and freeze them. Both pepparkakor and lussekatter can be thawed before heating them, or just pop them into a warm oven. Both are best served slightly warm.Freddie Hubbard: Health
Easily one of my favorite fusion records of the ‘70s, In Concert displays Freddie Hubbard and Stanley Turrentine backed by Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Eric Gale and Jack DeJohnette. I can’t say that the two tunes, each takes up a side on the record, are drastically different or forward thinking in comparison to other such releases of the time. They’re just good. And sometimes competence goes a long way.
The line-up alone was reason enough to pick it up, but the frequent listening is as a result of the ability of Hubbard and company to hold a groove down.
Unfortunately, like a number of other aging jazz players, Hubbard has seen his fare share of illness. At the age of 70, it’s admirable that he’s still playing and releasing albums. And even if some of those efforts don’t favorably compare to his output during the ‘60s and ‘70s, no one should expect them to.
But last week, Hubbard apparently had some major problems. There was speculation that he was in a coma. A few days after that report was posted, a comment from David Weiss cleared up what had occurred. His statement is comforting in some ways, like the fact that Hubbard’s coma was induced by doctors. But the fact that that step was necessary is a little bit disconcerting. Weiss goes on to say that Hubbard “has a ways to go.”
In the least, Weiss is being realistic, but all concerned – fans included – surely wish Hubbard all the best and a speedy recovery.