2009 November Archive
Them Crooked Vultures
This band is a fucking dream come true for me. I am a very big fan.
I mean, wouldn’t you like to see thatwasthen open for THESE cats? How do we do that?
Scumbag Blues by Them Crooked Vultures.
A collaboration between Josh Homme, John Paul Jones and Grohl was first publicly mentioned by Grohl in a 2005 interview with MOJO in which he declared “The next project that I’m trying to initiate involves me on drums, Josh Homme on guitar, and John Paul Jones playing bass. That’s the next album. That wouldn’t suck.”
Them Crooked Vultures performed its first show at the METRO in Chicago on August 9, 2009. The band played all original material during its 80-minute set, debuting such songs as opener “Elephants” (MY PERSONAL FAVORITE), “Scumbag Blues”, “Caligulove” and closing song “Nobody Loves Me and Neither Do I”. TCV made its European debut on August 19 with a performance at Melkweg in the Netherlands. With subsequent festival performances in Europe, the band first performed in the United Kingdom at London‘s Brixton Academy supporting English band Arctic Monkeys on August 26.
On November 3, the band gave a free copy of “Mind Eraser (No Chaser)” to fans that had bought tickets to a live performance and offered it on iTunes as a free download. On November 9, they started streaming their full album on their website, and also through a link to their mailing list with the title “Fuck Patience, Let’s Dance.”
On September 1, the band announced two 2009 tours of North America and the United Kingdom, in October and December respectively. The 2009 US Tour and the UK leg sold out in just under 12 minutes, making it one of the quickest sold tours in the UK — without the band even officially releasing a song to date. On September 21, the band also announced three Germany dates for December 2009. [Source: Wikipedia]
I honestly don’t know how or if we could ever open for these monsters of amazing, but I must figure it out!
That’s their single, “New Fang”.
Nicky P is moving!
Hah, just thought I’d shock you. Truth is, my parents are just moving 40 miles south to Carlsbad at the start of summer next year. Even though by all accounts I’m an adult and I can do what I want, it’s still upsetting. Just goes to show you can’t really make assumptions about things. Being the bard that I am, I just had to write a song about it. Here is the incomplete version, I’ll explain more once I am magically teleported to your computer screen…!
(lyrics after the jump)
Purple sapling in the yard,
it’s been 5 years it struggled hard.
Now I’ll never see it grow,
and if it does I’ll know it was without me
I walked here before I could drive,
so many “firsts,” we took the dive
I didn’t know how soon the “lasts” would come…
Well, now it’s done.
When we were young we would whisper of the day
needles would rain down and burst the bubble
that made us stay
But now, how to say goodbye
to Laguna?
Comment with any questions, comments. Much love!
—Nicky P—
Nicky P’s First Journal
November 22, 2009
These Cons are far too clean for my liking, I think, as I gingerly remove them from their cardboard coffin. Then again, many things these days are just too much. There are too many half-full beers, “fallen soldiers” scattered atop a table I got for free from this aging sorority chick who was moving out of the place downstairs. My ice box of a room smells much too much like cigarette smoke from some name-forgotten guest that I drunkenly let indulge indoors, but the aroma is dominated by the richer scent of its big brother, the cigar. Mr. Sinay arrived at the apartment complex (what an appropriate name) near the witching hour, decked in a tux jacket I had lent him earlier to fight off the cold. It was too big for my gangly frame, but on him it fit well and didn’t even reek of overdressing. Dangling from his mouth was the locomotive cigar. It’s odd—amongst my friends I have been known as the guy who doesn’t smoke cigarettes. Despite this, I took a couple puffs from Brenton’s mouthpiece like I was one of the bad boys in Pinnochio. What in my mind distinguishes cigars from cigarettes? Besides the cute French ending, I guess it must be the addictiveness. Then again, I am more or less addicted to other things that many people claim to be impossible to abuse. I’ll allow your mind to fill in the blanks on that one.
So, as I was saying, here I am amongst a pile of sort-of-metaphorical rubble, typing away as if the faster my fingers move the less cold I will be. As expected, this doesn’t work. At least my dimwitted Mac offers a convenient refuge from Poetry Homework. How ironic that my mode of escape from English is writing? Eh. I could’ve played guitar, too, but having done that all day I’m somewhat riffed out. Gasp! Nick Papageorge, Nicky P himself, TIRED of playing guitar?! Not really; actually, I could go for a nice jam at the moment (and I am not referring to the strawberry variety). Thing is, I’ve felt inspired recently to react differently to certain emotional input. My vagueness is just maddening isn’t it? Anyhow, this is how it started. Yesterday the aforementioned Brenton Sinay and I had a totally legal beer at the dingy and lazily misnamed bar across from my arctic tree house, Maloney’s. I don’t know what my deal is, but I suppose it takes a couple of repetitions before something is hammered into my brain as truth. One of his usual motivating rants got me thinking—there is just SO much that Future Me is missing out on. I am a forgetful person by nature, but the stuff that goes on around me, even the most miniscule, insignificant event, shouldn’t be forgotten. If I write it down I capture it, I contain it, I control it, I own it. And now this is a part of my consciousness, or should I say our collective consciousness, dear reader.
Just you wait.
__—NP—__
Epic Haiku Thread
Ribbit. Image from WallPaperSphere.com
Here’s to all of you participating in this!
Some of the most famous haiku in all of Japan’s history are attributed to the three great masters. One of them, Matsuo Basho is learned by almost every schoolchild in modern Japan. His “frog haiku” became instantly famous when he composed it in 1686.
Furu ike ya
kawazu tobikomu
mizu no oto
Translated into English as (not 5.7.5, though)
The old pond;
A frog jumps in -
The sound of the water.
or yet another translation (there are hundreds)
Ancient silent pond
Then a frog jumped right in
Watersound: kerplunk
This is the part where I encourage you all to comment below and add your own haiku. Make it about thatwasthen or at least rock and roll music! If you need to, listen to the tunes while you write! Click the player at the top!
~Love, Brenton
Jeff Buckley Tribute
I am posting tonight to honor a musician who has inspired me a great deal over the last couple of years. Ever since music became a serious part of my life, I have had a thirst for new stuff to listen too. I am always looking for new music to take inspiration from. Since embarking on this constant search for new music, I find that there are some albums and artists that I don’t rush out and buy. For what ever reason, some get put into an “I’m interested, but I’ll come across to buying you later” pile.
Jeff Buckley’s Grace was one of those albums for me. I had heard of him and read things saying what an amazing voice he had, how captivating of a performer he was and how Grace was one of the best albums of the 90′s. For some reason, I was like “eh, that’s cool, I’ll get around to getting it sometime.” I finally said to myself, ”his name and this album keeps popping, just buy it already, you will like it, stop being lazy!” So, I bought it and was blown away. I hadn’t heard anything like it, I hadn’t heard anyone sing with such passion and with such emotion. It was so awe inspiringly beautiful and it quickly became my favorite album thus far.
Unfortunately, Grace was the only album he ever released as he died in tragically in 1997 and was added to a growing list of artists that the world had lost far too soon. On what would have been his 43rd birthday I am posting two videos of my two favorite songs off of Grace. The first is the opening track entitled “Mojo Pin” and the second, his most well known, is a cover of Leonard Cohen’s song “Hallelujah.” Enjoy
Places To End lyrics
This song was written in the time just before we hit the studio to record “QED” in July 2008.
Nicky and Nate hammered this out, and when it was done we knew it was a keeper. We made it about the contrast between viewpoints regarding the violence in the middle east.
Places to End
Locking pop cans on the fencepost
just like the oil, you’re boring
Obviously lacking modesty, you’ve got a policy too foreign
Like Stormin’ Norman you’re combing the sand
Screwing, ruining the lives you hold in your hand
People begging, dying, crying
saying, “Open up your eyes!”
But you’re not seeing.
Oh Hell!
I am home still
if we don’t kill each and every last one
Brother, grab you a gun
I’m in line with the sky’s design
I’m disguised behind the ancient cloth.
The hatred makes it hot.
There’s children crying at rounds in the air.
It’s everywhere.
We scatter, scared.
Erect our necks,
“Oh, who is next?”
We’re so perplexed,
the Holy Text couldn’t ever have prepared us for this.
Oh Hell!
I am home still
if we don’t kill each and every last one
Brother, grab you a gun
And go fill
the window sill
We’ll get those devil people running.
No, they’ll never see it coming.
Desert hummers humming, coming to kill.
Children, walk around it.
Let’s not talk about it.
We won’t have to see their faces again.
Lying bleeding, beaten
In the trees of Eden.
O, of all the places to end.
O, of all the places to end.
We won’t see their faces again.
O, of all the places to end.
This is the place it will end.
Danallan @ The Key Club
This is the third multi-camera edit we’ve pieced together. Thanks to Justa and Adam Young for the awesome footage!
A Song For Employees
I used to work in an Office. Daily, it would drain the life right out of me. The day’s monotony beat me down over the course of a few months and I was miserable. If only I had a way to deal with the stress!
The next time you’ve had a rough day at the Office/Work you can hum this brilliant tune and nobody will be the wiser!
Stand By Me, Around the World
This song has echoed across attics, bounced through boulevards, and danced around dining rooms for more than 50 years now. Maybe it’s because I’m reading Dante’s Divine Comedy for the umpteenth time back at UCLA (and actually starting to enjoy it now!) that I am no longer surprised by old works bringing forth very real, contemporary emotions. As “they”–whoever they are–say, some things never change.
But what’s really interesting about this video is the manner in which it was edited together. A camera crew recorded street performers and traditional artists from all over the Earth doing their individual renditions of the song “Stand By Me.” They were instructed to play the song in a certain key so that once combined, all the different parts would shine together. It’s truly a work of art…moving quickly from shot to shot to these intimate scenes in these completely separated places almost makes you feel like you’ve been teleported there.
If you have any heart at all the symbolism of all these different cultures coming together to make music is touching. It’s the same feeling I get when I play music with my band mates. Enjoy!
“Stand by Me” performed by musicians around the world from SKAT on Vimeo.
flyer for The Key Club – This Saturday!
Come see thatwasthen at The Key Club (Plush Lounge) this Saturday, November 7th. RSVP via FaceBook or our contact form for free tickets. 100 Tickets only so hurry! There are only a few left!
