oakland

I don't know who that is but I support you in your anger.

On www.lancashireandsomerset.co.uk. I'm super excited this is finally out. I've been corresponding with Nathan for a couple of magazine pieces since before he came up with the idea for this record, so it sort of feels like I've seen the process for this develop. The music he's doing has morphed so much over the past few years into some incarnations ranging from mellow, humid works to frenetic world-music-on-speed jams. Plus the packaging and presentation is top notch. Here's what they say: We are more than excited to be putting this release out for Nathan Bell - what started out as a possible 7" turned into a full length album. Recorded in Baltimore, Louisville and Nashville late last year. 8 tracks that flow like an abstract poem with nathan's hypnotic banjo mantras wound around percussion, bass, trumpet viola and cello - an amazing record. Ltd to 400 copies world wide in a silk screened sleeve each with a photograph attached to the front by brazilian photographer Fernando Martins Ferreira.

I know how people are about this sort of thing, but I ask you to think it over. ALARM doesn't make a lot (read: any) money with each of its books. They are created by people who love music, art and all that happy horse shit. I am one of those people, and have been proud to be a part of what ALARM does for the past I-don't-know-how-many years. I think it's one of the smartest music publications around, and this issue is my last as I have retired from journalism. I wrote stories about XBXRX and the amazing Nathan Bell (Lungfish, etc.). Good stories and a great concept for a book. Read on ... and thanks (or fuck you) in advance. "The next ALARM book is called Chromatic: The Crossroads of Color and Music. It's about independent musicians and artists who are exploring color in unorthodox ways, and we're really psyched about it. We were so excited to put it together, in fact, that the finished product ended up at nearly 400 pages of full-color art and editorial. But because it turned out so much larger than originally planned, we need some help to send it to print. As of today, we have launched a pre-order and fund-raising campaign on Kickstarter.com, one of the world's biggest fund-raising websites for creative projects. Here's the link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/968547338/chromatic-the-crossroads-of-color-and-music

Go ahead and put some Stinking Lizaveta on there too. Just knowing who they are makes you instantly much cooler.

Russian Circles. How the fuck did we all leave them off? You know, I consider myself sort of a instrumental post-punk aficionado, but damn it when I'm put on the spot I can't think of any bands. I guess Pelican too?

I got a promo of the Grails album and it's pretty epic. A little more complex than the last one if you can believe that.

Turing Machine - stuff from Zwei Don Cab -- whatever stuff

I hope one color is black. Because that's how I feel inside.

That's actually a pretty good point. Know your audience I always say.

It is just insane how many versions there are of some records. It really calls into question the true value of such things. Then again I don't really sell records or care if other people do, so it doesn't matter. Just a curious thing to me.

I want to paint an old frame too. I called an auto body show and asked how much it would cost. The dude told me $600. I'm guessing that means he doesn't want to do it.

The funny thing is how violently loyal stupid people are to the crap they are told to like by MTV and the dominant entertainment infomonster. Not only are they proudly ignorant of anything outside their narrow worldview, they are actually angry that such a world exists and that it could possibly produce music of value. I absolutely LOVE listening to people who believe -- I mean really, truly believe -- that a bands value and its popularity are in direct correlation. And this particular example is even more curious. Here's a band that IS extremely popular among a certain segment of the population. Still, in the grand scheme of things they have no hope of ever truly reaching the level of Lady Ga Ga or Eminem. Occasionally some indie band like the Promise Ring or Jawbox or whatever will gain a little momentum in the music marketplace and everyone in the underground starts getting all wound up about them being mainstream and on the verge of something huge. It's never going to happen. The populace is addicted to mediocrity. I truly believe people are afraid to be seen as different or individuals when it comes to music. Also, I hate Arcade Fire. They sound like generic indie rock blandness to me. But I'm glad this happened. Good for them.

I saw Pygmy Lush have a new record on the way. I'm excited about that for sure. I loved Mount Hope.

Whoa! I never said I liked the fusion stuff more than the bop. Not the case at all. I just don't hate what he did later in his career. But I'm totally a bop lover. And I agree: Sonny was the best in his day. Hands down.

You made a wise choice. Arcade Fire is one of those bands like Modest Mouse or whatever that I just can't get into. To me it just sounds like generic indie rock nonsense. "Workin'" on the other hand was rather revolutionary, as were many of Miles' recordings. And I know I'll be called a philistine by a lot of people but I really think Miles' latter-day material, the fusion/progressive stuff like "...Jack Johnson..." and Bitches Brew (not so much "You're Under Arrest et. al) is great. It's funky certainly, which is a turnoff to a lot of people and for good reason. Funk, or at least the skeleton of its groove, has been taken over by shitty college bands trying to "get people on the dance floor." All this to say Miles was probably bored and got into some weird, wacky stuff for a while. So what? Jeez, I should have writen a term paper on the latter-day music, the good and the garbage, of great jazz musicians. For instance I love Sonny Rollins with a passion. Like a sick obsessive passion. His music speaks to me like nothing else, aside from a few punk albums from my youth. But the last 15 years of his creative output has been pure junk IMO. JUst stuff to please the increasingly ignorant and goobery audience. So there.

High school! I got married just before this came out. It's so weird being 36 and liking the same shit as kids half my age. I guess that means I'm not one of those people that just listens to what they liked college for the rest of their life. So that's good.

I really thought, at the time "Dream..." came out, that these guys would be huge (relatively speaking). I just recently hauled this back out and jammed it in my car for about a week. Good stuff. Very, very emo. But good stuff.

I also have the dopest Surly Cross Check around. I need new wheels though. I'm waiting on Paul's new cassette rear hub, but it's taking forever. I've got Paul Thumbies, Paul neo retro brakes, paul levers, brown leather Brooks saddle, FSA carbon forks, bars, seat posts etc. It's a great townie/commuter.

I've been debating getting the picture disc. I don't care for picture discs generally, but feel like if they sold out I'd be bummed I didn't get one. I fucking love this band. Every time I put them on it just plays and plays. I don't even want to listen to anything else. Except maybe White Hills. New White Hills soon by the way.

more info please? It's a Primus Mootry, lugged steel frame. You can see his frames at www.primusmootry.com. The cost for the frame was around $1,800 but it's fit perfectly to my body and is like a dream to ride. I can't seem to find any photos of it, but I'll get some. It's a beauty. Very simple. Downtube shifters, Paul racer brakes, black Brooks saddle, custom Handlebra leather tape, and the Reynolds forks off my old vintage Trek.

Nice. I personally prefer gears and breaks and all that, but that's a hot looking bike for sure. By the way, I have a vintage Trek frame if anyone is interested in it. It's built with Reynolds 531 steel tubing and is just plain awesome. 56c.

Frisky Dingo.

Nice. I have an SL-1700 that I got at a yard sale. Turntable, Onkyo Tuner, tape deck and cabinet -- all in perfect condition -- for $100. It was one of the happier days of my record-collecting career.

I have a fully custom-built road bike. If you can afford it, I highly recommend it. Fits SOOOOO good.

I can't answer any of the above questions. All I know is I've got three Miles Davis box sets, two Monk sets. a couple Coltrane sets and a bunch of the reissues (including Blue Train which sounds awesome) and they all sound unbelievably good. I'm always shocked at how the rips I make from the vinyl sound better than most CDs I own. So totally recommended. One thing: they pack large orders for shit.