Just Press Play

I was all set to write a post about how the one benefit of iMeem over SeeqPod is the ability to create and embed playlists. But...well...


SeeqPod Music beta - Playable Search

This is a bunch of stuff I've been listening to all week. I first grabbed a few songs by Everthus The Deadbeats because their name references perhaps the single most obscure line of dialogue in The Big Lebowski. (Woo says "Everthus the deadbeats, Lebowski" to The Dude after peeing on his rug). The only one that I still listen to is this "Some Terry's" one, but I've been listening to it a bunch. Something about that real sing-songy conclusion...I found it annoying at first, but it has really grown on me.

I saw some of these bands/musicians live this week. Sonic Youth played their entire "Daydream Nation" album as well as half of their most recent LP, "Rather Ripped," as an encore. (This track is the first on "Rather Ripped" and was, to my mind, one of the show highlights, along with "Total Trash.") It was a really cool show. I had seen SY live a few years back at All Tomorrows Parties, but I'm pretty sure they didn't play any "Daydream"-era songs.

My one complaint about The Greek is that, if you're sitting kind of far back, it's not really loud enough. I mean, this isn't Spinal Tap. I don't need to be blown out of my seat. But I don't know...I never really feel drawn into the show when I'm there; I've been in venues where you sit much further back, but can enjoy a richer, fuller sound. (It's gotta be The Greek, because I had the same exact feeling after seeing Belle and Sebastian there a while back, though I grant they're not ever going to be the loudest band).

I'm thinking it's not just me, because during the show (while the band was taking a little breather, I should add), a guy sitting in front of me asked me to stop talking. (I was, at the time, summarizing this week's "Hell's Kitchen" for the benefit of my brother Jonathan). You KNOW a concert's kind of hard to hear when people are actually asking their neighbors to shut up at an outdoor amphitheater! There could be a guy smoking crack right in front of me at an outdoor amphitheater and I wouldn't say anything. #1 rule of large-scale event attendance: mellow out and let everyone do their thing and enjoy themselves.

Anyway, even better was the John Vanderslice/Spoon show at Little Radio in the heart of Downtown LA's gorgeous Warehouse and Dumpster District. This was a tiny little not-club (I believe it's an Internet radio station by day) that was packed densely with about 300 people and a shitload of free Dewar's (the event's sponsor).



The chance to see not only a big band like Spoon but an acoustic set by Vanderslice in that kind of venue was worth the sweltering, inhuman heat. (No ventilation + bright stage lights + 300 human bodies = teh suck). I actually felt bad for Britt Daniel during the show - he was trying to sing and play guitar while sweat literally streamed down his face. They still played for 90 minutes...It was awesome, especially the epic rendition of "My Mathematical Mind" off their previous album.