Been out and about the last few weeks. Here’s a visual round-up:
1990s at Union Pool, 4/6/07.
The Cave Singers at Luna Lounge, 4/8/07 (complete with translucent Derek head).
The Stooges at the United Palace Theater, 4/9/07.
Blonde Redhead at the Apple Store in Soho, 23 release day, 4/10/07.
Hard to make out, but that’s a chick dancin’ on the bar…
The Fader magazine threw a party to celebrate their 45th issue last night at the National Arts Club, a pretty snazzy beaux-arts building on Gramercy Park South. Since I didn’t get a chance to see Lavender Diamond there earlier this month (too jet-lagged from vacation), I thought I’d check this out.
I haven’t seen Bill play in almost four years (since I worked with him), and it was refreshing to see him doing his thing, which he does oh-so-well. The trio of Bill, Joanna Newsom on piano and Jim White on drums was very subtle, but very beautiful, providing a new treatment/interpretation of Bill’s older songs (favorites included “Bathysphere,” “Cold Discovery,” “Leave the Country” and “Rock Bottom Riser,” among others). I was seated up in front, between Jim and Bill, and I gotta say just getting to watch Jim up-close was pretty amazing. Obviously I’ve known of his awesome drumming for years and years, but when you actually get to see him up-close and pay attention to all the thing’s he’s doing, it’s pretty mindblowing.
Other highlights of the evening included free beer, the djing antics of Mr. Joshua Wildman, watching a bartender duct-tape a piece of paper to a Tiffany lamp in the bar, and seeing Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson look sleepy.
Dead Meadow at Club Deville, Austin, Texas on 3/18/07
The National on the roof of Complete Music Studios, Brooklyn on 3/23/07
The Early Years at Cake Shop, NYC on 3/11/07
Charles Gocher Jr. of the Sun City Girls has died:
02/20/07
With deep regret, we must announce that Charles Gocher passed away yesterday in Seattle due to a long battle with cancer at the age of 54. He is survived by the two of us who adopted him as a brother 25 years ago and his many friends around the world. He will be missed more than most could ever know. Our thanks to everyone for their support and encouragement during the past three, very difficult years. Many of you were not aware that Charles was ill and that’s because he wanted it that way. Details of a memorial in his honor will be announced soon.
—Alan and Richard Bishop
I don’t have a whole lot to say right now other than I’m completely so saddened by this news. What a great trickster of a drummer, the convuluted heartbeat of America’s most fiercely strange band. I suppose getting to see them at All Tomorrow’s Parties is sort of a nice farewell, though, as it was a GREAT show and I somehow can’t think of anything more appropriate than for them to play in a Butlin’s (very casino-like atmosphere, for us Americans). I’ll write more later, and post pics, but for now I’m just gonna play Torch of the Mystics on repeat.
Results are here and stuff. Eh. It’s nice to be asked to contribute, but as usual I really don’t understand much of what passed for “interesting” or “good” to music writers this year. I mean seriously am I the ONLY person who voted for the Dan Higgs record? That’s not right. Oh yeah, here‘s my ballot. Apologies to Bruce Loose and to James Brown (the former isn’t dead, the latter died after the deadline).
What do John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats and I have in common?
Not much, but we both contributed to the Baltimore City Paper’s Year-End List.
Each individual critic’s list is at the bottom, and here’s mine:
1. Scott Walker – The Drift (4AD)
2. Pissed Jeans – Shallow (Parts Unknown)
3. Wzt Hearts – Heat Chief (Hoss)
4. The Weird Weeds – Weird Feelings (Sounds Are Active)
5. Joanna Newsom – Ys (Drag City)
6. Daniel A.I.U. Higgs – Ancestral Songs (Holy Mountain)
7. The Dead C. – Vain Erudite and Stupid: Selected Works 1987-2005 (Ba Da Bing!)
8. Brightblack Morning Light – s/t (Matador)
9. Times New Viking – Dig Yourself (Siltbreeze)
10. Valley of Ashes – Cavehill Hunters Attrition (Black Velvet Fuckere)
Astonishingly, no Beggars and Matador acts charted on the final 10, but I tried my best, having listed Scott Walker and Brightblack Morning Light. I swear, it’s not just nepotism, I really really like those records!
Seriously, so good.
Rainbows appear when they play.
More ATP photos and stuff at some point soon.
Katy.
Syd Barrett Memorial, 9th Ave. SE and Tacoma Parkway.
Kohoutek at West Nile, Brooklyn – 11/10/2006
Shrimp Ducks
Bishops at Large at Tonic, New York – 10/27/2006
Blues Control at Goodbye Blue Monday, 9/19/2006
Close Shave
Neither of these are breaking news, but that’s not what matters anyway. I thought I’d write a post to acknowledge two terrible, self-inflicted deaths by two interesting artists – both of which, while gigantic bummers, may be somehow something to learn from.
Jason DiEmilio of the Azusa Plane recently took his life, apparently spurred by recent health problems. Though I wasn’t really familiar with the Azusa Plane while Jason was more active, they were definitely a name both easily recognizable and widely respected. It really sucks that his death is spurring me to finally stop being lazy and check out his music, and I certainly mean no disrespect in that sense. I wish I could’ve gotten it together sooner, but more importantly I wish that Jason — who I think I met once, not really sure — had been able to live free of pain.
A different sort of pain, but nonetheless a very, very real pain, caused Malachi Ritscher to take his own life in Chicago this past weekend. I can’t say I knew Malachi, really, but I used to see him at pretty much every good show I went to in Chicago from 1998 to 2002, and while I was puzzled at first by “that guy with the DAT machine and the mics,” his presence came to be one I enjoyed, and I admired him from a distance. I also admired a number of his recordings from those shows. Reading his self-penned obituary (linked above), it’s clear that he was a brilliant person, and I’m not sure — though I respect his choice — that the world is a better place without him. In fact, I think — despite the Democrats’ win yesterday and today’s resignation of Donald Rumsfeld — that we are definitely worse off without him.
One of the musicians he recorded, Dave Rempis of the Vandermark Five, posted information about a memorial gathering this weekend in Chicago on the chi-improv mailing list:
Elastic will be hosting a memorial gathering for Malachi Ritscher this
Sunday, November 12th, from 5-8 pm. For those of you knew Malachi, and
perhaps those of you who didn’t, please feel free to come and share some
memories, and trade some thoughts on his life and death.Elastic is at:
2830 N. Milwaukee Ave.
2nd floorIf you have anything that you’d like to bring (photos, etc.) that has some
relevance to Malachi’s life, please do. We’d like to display some of these
items for everyone to share in.
I do hope that Jason and Malachi are at peace, wherever they may be now. Or even if they’re nowhere, that’s fine too. Their final actions in no way obscure what they gave us while they were alive.
UPDATE: Some really good follow-up pieces on Malachi Ritscher have run in the Milwaukee Sentinal-Journal and in Pitchfork.
The Other Side of Life 