WE BLAZE AWAY

Mood: Good

I just got back from the Kill Rock Stars Showcase concert. First the bands that I'd never heard before: Xiu Xiu was cool in a rocking Postal Service vein, Deerhoof was pummeling arythymic rock with a spunky little chinese lead singer, and The Gossip packed a White Stripes meets southern gospel wallop. The Decemberists, the real reason I went at all, were excellent. They totally rocked. A lot of bands these days sound good on the radio because they've got a legion of producers that could mix a gold album out of mediocre tripe, but the Decemberists are old school, way talented. Pretty much anything you hear on an album of theirs is something they effortlessly reproduce on stage to our delight and joy. They played us a couple of new songs off of their new album which they just finished recording, and they rocked. Also played were some old favorites, including: the Soldiering Life, Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect, A Cautionary Tale, Odalisque, Leslie Anne Levine, I Was Meant For The Stage, and Billy Liar. I secured a Decemberists t-shirt and poster.

This brings me to my next topic, which is my new pad. It is an economy studio, meaning I have private bath and fridge, but not an actual kitchen. I've been decorating it, since I have more available wall space, and to that end I've been seeking out odd posters and the like. Recent posters I've acquired include Frank Zappa, Bjork, and the Ministry of Silly walks. Maybe when my room is nicely set up, I'll post some pictures. Maybe I won't. Only time will tell.

Speaking of Bjork, I got her new album today, "Medulla". It's a bit of a concept piece: except for a little bit of piano in a couple of songs, it's all done with human voices. Aiding her in this are Rahzel (human beatbox miracle) and Tagaq (Inuit throat singer badass). Also doing their part is the Icelandic Choir, and I'm a sucker for big choral arrangements.

And now, just for kicks, I'd like to share a few opinions on Hard Underbelly that I found whilst sifting through the internet:

"The premise isn't exactly original, but I enjoyed it."

"...its a rather unpretentious Angel inspired comic thats quite funny."

"Interesting concept, aint too keen on it in comic form but what teh heck it is kindda funny...i would preffer the idea to be taken a step further, book film etc." Ed. Note- book and film deals are surprisingly hard to secure.

"...the artwork isn't professional...but i thought the dialogue was cool..."

It is true that Hard Underbelly, like most things, was inspired by something. Most people think it was inspired by Angel or Forever Knight (it's true I have soft spot for Angel, but I hated Forever Knight and have only seen a couple of episodes), but it the idea actually germinated from a much less melodramatic source: William Morton's short-lived comic Bar Crawl Of The Damned. If you're interested, give it a looksee. It's not that long, so it shouldn't take you all day.

I apologize for any typos and spelling errors, but me sleepy.

-----------------Over, Out--------------------

  posted by Tristan @ 2:59 AM