Has anyone heard of the hilarious and unique comedian Mitch Fatel?
He’s a damn funny guy.
On September 18th you can check out the full Mitch Fatel special titled Mitch Fatel Is Magical on Comedy Central. I can not wait to see it…oh wait, I no longer have cable.
Rats.
Lucky for the the DVD of the special will be released on September 22nd.
Score.
So for all you fancy pants out there with cable TV make sure you check out the New Yorker when it premiers on Comedy Central. For all you other comedy seeking non-cable owning suckers like myself, the following Tuesday will be a good day to get the DVD.
Today’s Sans Label band comes from the beautiful Tennessee city of Chattanooga.
I know Matt is snickering right now. Adam may be too.
Why? (Story time…)
I am not sure if any of you remember but back in June I along with Matt and Adam ventured to Tennessee to attend Bonnaroo. You can read about the Bonnaroo adventures here, here, here, and here if you would like to know the whole deal of the trip.
The thought of Chattanooga puts a sneer on my face and it has nothing to do with the attractive city at all. It has to do with a major detour that was endeavored on the first day of Bonnaroo thanks to Matt and a band called the B-52’s.
It’s my fault, really it is. If I was not such an ass to Matt this little detour never would have happened.
You see, while enjoying a free breakfast at the glorious Holiday Inn located in Kimball, TN I spotted a Chattanooga newspaper that had a picture of the B-52’s on the cover. Knowing that Matt is an uber fan I pushed the paper in front of him and poked fun at the band.
I have nothing against the B-52’s by the way. They are not my type of music but they happen to be one of Matt’s favorite bands ever.
So putting this paper in his face was a terrible mistake because his eyes lit up. To make a long story short I dropped Matt’s ass off in Chattanooga and took myself and Adam to day one of Bonnaroo. Some eight hours later I returned to Chattanooga and picked up Mr. Rock Lobster.
It’s true I was annoyed. Anyone would be annoying to drive out of the way especially since it was really out of the way. As annoyed as I was though I knew I made his day if not his summer by dropping him off by the river so he could see his band.
So when I hear the city of Chattanooga brought up in any conversation or read it in an email immediately my memories go back to the day where I was a taxicab driver for Matt. It was worth it to see him happy and if I really did not want to do it, I would not have. You can’t blame me Matt for putting up a fight.
Where am I going with this story you ask?
Well a couple weeks ago I received an email from a Chattanooga band called Taxicab Racers.
I laughed out loud when I read it. Not because of their content or because they had a funny song. Just seeing the words Chattanooga and taxicab in the same sentence was beyond hilarious to me.
Without hesitation I checked out the attached MP3. I wanted to make sure that they had nothing in common with the B-52’s and they did not.
Taxicab Racers is a electronic / rock act started by Michael Roddy who later was joined by his friends Nathan, Adam, and Josh turning the mostly one man idea into more of a pop rock electronic act that heavily hints on New Order and Phoenix which in my book is perfectly ok with me. I love electronic rock acts so to hear the similarities made me that much more interested.
The first song they sent me titled “Turnpike” comes from the four song EP the band recently released titled Turnpike. The song not only has a great flow throughout but the thoughtful lyrics in the song almost become a little dreary to listen to as it’s clear the song is about confusion in relations. This is a good chill out song to listen to when you are just having one of those days.
“Time And Place” did not strike me as hard as the previous track but still kept a happy vibe full of uptempo creating danceable qualities. The remaining two songs proved that the band has come a long way from being a solo project to a four man team. “Take It Easy” was almost techno at times with heavy synthesizers but kept the balance down enough where it was not a repetitious annoyance to listen to. “Houses” had hints of Postal Service at times with the signing and simplicity to the song and I especially loved the drawn out ending.
With the band recently relocating to Nashville I have a good feeling that these guys will be taking their Turnpike EP and utilizing it in a positive way to create a full length debut album worthy of talking about. Fans of indie rock with an electronic edge will be digging these guys in no time.
I have been so damn busy as of late I have not had a chance to tell you all what I have been up to in my own personal life, music and entertainment wise that is of course.
On Aug. 8th I joined my pal Mr. Addicted To Vinyl on one of the best adventures I have had all summer in Cleveland this year. You see Matt is and has been in the radio business for years now and I am sure you know that if you have read his blog and if you have not then you are missing out.
For unknown reasons other than I am amazing Matt extended an invite to me to meet up with some of his radio / music friends at a bar at Whiskey Island for a gathering and then to see 90’s Cleveland alt-rockers The Waynes play a reunion gig at the Happy Dog.
At first I hesitated seeing how I was not sure how this day was going to pan out. I would know one or two people tops who would be going to the show that evening and know only Matt during the day gathering. After some quick thought I decided what the hell and told him I was game.
I picked up Matt and we headed to a bar at Whiskey island called the Sunset Grille. I laughed as soon as we arrived to the bar because I remember being there over 10 years ago on a couple of occasions and have fond memories of drinking way too many Long Island iced teas while underage, making out with random women, and at one time sleeping in my car because I was too drunk to function.
I also recalled the time that I went there with some high school friends to join a frat party of some of my friend’s older brothers. Let’s just say during the evening hours I caught a boat to the flats, partied like a rock star, got a couple of girl’s numbers, made the driver of the boat angry, almost missed my ride back to Whiskey Island via boat as the sweet jocks I was with tried to ditch me, and eventually made it back to the marina after convincing another jock it was a bad idea to go swimming in Lake Erie as well as a bad idea to take the boat to Canada.
Phew!
So yes I had some great drunken memories of this place and was actually a little excited to be there. The only problem was that it was gloomy out and just down right cold for an August afternoon. When I say cold I mean I actually put a hoodie on cold. It was crazy.
The Gang
Matt’s friends were all in the music business one way or another and all super cool. I can honestly say I met some of the coolest people I have met in a long time that day. They were all very friendly and had a ton of stories to share. I of course supplied them with some of my stories as well. it was a blast and even the sun warmed things up a little making for the afternoon just the perfect Saturday to hang outdoors with good people.
Around 8pm we headed to the Happy Dog to get a place to sit and get ready for a fun night that would include a reunion show of The Waynes, a 90’s local rock act who had not played a show in years. The bar was already full of old school fans so we grabbed some bar stools and planted it there for the night.
Chris Allen opened the show with some great guitar playing, singing, and a little harmonica playing. I had recently just seen him and Don Dixon play at the very same bar a few weeks back so I actually recognized some of his songs.
The Waynes on the other hand I was not familiar with. I wish I was though because they were one of those bands in the 90’s I now wish I was aware of. They were amazing.
The Happy Dog should have been called the Happy Inferno that night because I swear it was over 90 degrees in the bar. With two full sets by The Waynes I tried my hardest to watch them perform their songs but eventually had to step outside for some fresh air.
While watching and listening to them I could not help myself but to observe Matt and his friends all with huge smiles on their faces as well as a bunch of other folk who showed up as well. They were all singing along having a great time. Yes, alcohol helped in the fun for many but the overall the gathering of good friends while listening to a band they all adored at a younger ago made it that much better.
Last Thursday evening I headed out to the wonderful Music Saves on Waterloo before venturing to see some bands play at a free show at Blue Arrow Records. I told Melanie at Music Saves that I would bring her some cheese previously in the week as a joke but she got so excited about the offer I decided I should stick to my offer and brought her an afternoon snack. After hanging out there for a moment and meeting up with Matt we then took off to Blue Arrow where my friend Adam’s (Rad-am) current band the Prisoners were playing a free show with The Lawton Brothers.
It was pretty warm in the store but nothing too crazy plus fans were brought in to make the show a little more comfortable. A lot of cool folk showed up for the event and shopped for good vinyl while listening to both bands play throughout the evening.
Hanging outside on the sidewalk in between acts on Waterloo brought me back some memories of the days when I was a kid hanging out on Coventry, a hip street full of music and specialty shops in Cleveland Hts. The Waterloo District as I have heard some folk call it recently is really a great attraction for all to check out. With two of the best music stores and other amazing specialty shops it is worth the trip no matter how far away you live. It takes me almost an hour to get there and I aim for one to two visits a month if that tells you anything…
Saturday night was all about The Foot at the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame. Matt asked me if I wanted to join him to see Chickenfoot (Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Chad Smith, and Michael Anthony ). i could not pass up the opportunity to see a line up like that of the silly named band so of course I said yes.
Before the show Matt and I headed around Lakewood to kill some time and eventually decided food was something that was needed. Matt suggested The Diner On Clifton and I am glad he did.
Before I even continue this babble of a story I need to tell you all about the purple coleslaw. Matt ordered fish n’ chips and where I am from fish n’ chips comes with a side of coleslaw too. Our adorable waitress dropped off our orders and Matt stops in mid-sentence and says:
“Jesus Christ, what the hell is that?”
He of course was alerted to a certain little cup of coleslaw that was purple in color from the red cabbage that was used to make it. The waitress asked if everything was ok and Matt kindly asked her to remove it from the table but being the ass that I am I asked her to give it to me so I could eat it slowly in front of him. When she took the little cup of goodness away from his plate a little of the purple stuff dropped on the table.
Matt’s face was priceless.
Matt was so terrified of the coleslaw and that little amount that was dropped on the table by him when the cup was moved from one side of the table to the other was seen as toxic waste in his eyes. I don’t think I have laughed that hard in a long time and to make things even more fun for me I took it upon myself to make sure he was looking at me each time I took a bite of the delicious slaw. I was torturing him and it was hilarious.
After dinner we headed downtown to the Rock Hall to partake in the free event. We chose to park in the parking deck just across the highway from the Rock Hall for a mere $10.00. The tenant who took my money was nice but not nice enough to inform me that the steps near E. 9th were closed. Matt and I found out the hard way as we parked the car and walked to the steps only to see caution tape. We then took the elevator to the 1st level thinking that was where we first entered. Nope. We were in the basement and it was gloomy as hell. All Matt and I could think of was the DXism (D.X. Ferris) reference to parking garage vampires.
I seriously thought we were never going to make it to an exit. Luckily we were not the only morons running around the deck like a mouse trying to find the cheese in some failed science experiment.
Finally getting out of that damn garage and making way to the show a guy approached me and asked if I wanted to buy tickets to the event. I am not sure if this scalper knew it or not but the show was free. Tickets were given out for free before the date of the show and I found out later that people were just handing out extras to people who did not come with a ticket…for free. I hope to hell the scalper sold nothing to anyone and cried himself home.
I admit I was excited to see Chickenfoot. After never seeing any era of Van Halen or Joe Satriani I told myself this may very well be the only chance to see these two rock superstars live. I did not know any of the songs but it did not matter as they were entertaining as hell and put on a great show for all who gathered that night in front of the Rock Hall.
I can tell you this. Chickenfoot sounded great. I still have yet to listen to their album that dropped earlier this year but the combination of all of the amazing musicians made for a great rock show. I am still shocked to have learned that Sammy Hagar is 61 years old.
The front patio of the Rock Hall was crowded and everyone was having a great time. The weather held out perfectly for the free show and I am glad I went.
I pulled a [insert Matt’s last name here] by leaving the show early but not because I needed to go home and crawl into bed like someone I know, but because I had another show in Cleveland I needed to get to. I said bye to Matt left the rock show so that I could go to a punk show.
My good friends The Facials had a CD release party at Rockstar and were set to go on stage around 11:15pm so I got there in time and was greeted by my pals with about 7 free tickets. I love my friends…jerks.
I was told by my pals that I missed some great openers but I could see a little gleam of jealousy when I told them were I was at before arriving. Rockstar (located on the upper level of Peabody’s) was just as hot as the Happy Dog the week before was and I swear I thought I was going to melt there.
The Facials were the last band to take the stage and even though I was given a CD to listen to by my friends I opted to not check it out until I saw them play some of the songs.
I have to say I was impressed.
I’m not going to go review their performance or CD but if you like Cleveland punk rock you should check out my boys The Facials. This is their second release and they put a lot of work into it plus they are good guys. Fans of Pennywise and enemies of pop-punk should dig.
So yeah, that was the last few days/weeks for me. It has taken me forever to even post this because I have been so busy with work and the office zombie routine.
This week is ending quick and tonight I am going to try and make it to Visible Voice Books in the essentric neighborhood of Termont to see author Jessica Hopper talk about her book Girl’s Guide To Rocking followed by a show at the Happy Dog (I will be bringing portable AC with me). The fun starts at 7:30pm. I am still not 100% sure I am going to make it but if you are in the area it is going to be fun. Don’t miss it.
Friday Matt, who may be kissing up to me as rumors have been pointing that I want to beat him up, offered his extra ticket to see Tonic at the mini-Blossom of sorts, Cain Park. I am super pumped to make that show. I almost feel bad for taunting him with the purple coleslaw…no, wait… I do not.
Luckily I have decided that I am skipping the Virgin Mobile Free Fest so that should ease some of my busy life down a notch. I was unable to get tickets (even though it was free they have to have some sort of control) to it but that is ok. I do not have the money to make the drive out there plus I feel I have enough going right now to justify my choice to skip my tradition of going to Baltimore every Summer since 2006.
So yeah, that is my well overdue post. If you made it this far down the line then go to the kitchen and find yourself a cookie.
As previously mentioned here on the damaged listening apparatus site, the Bouncing Souls currently are in the middle of taking the entire year of 2009 to celebrate their two decades at being a punk rock group. The band has been dropping an unreleased track every month for their fans, playing shows, and having the times of their lives while doing so.
In May the band decided to start a “Bouncing Souls 20th Anniversary TV Spectacular” series on the web internets for all the punk rock fans. Alternative Press had the honor of sharing the first installment of the series. I had not seen it until today.
Warning, lots of swearing – after all the Bouncing Souls are from New Jersey.
The video for “Airport Security” can be seen at the end of this episode and may very well be my favorite Bouncing Souls music video of all time so make sure you watch the whole video. There was something about the simplicity of the video, the dancing, and seeing the boys just let loose and have fun that made it so entertaining to me.
Here, check it out:
The whole sit-com approach at the beginning killed me. I loved the added laugh tracks too. I would not expect anything less from the Souls.
Now of course someone out there saw the “Airport Security” video and decided to try their own take on it substituting life with LEGOs. The result was flattering to the Souls and has been shared with all of their fans. Sure, it has been done before but still something like this takes a lot of time to do and really shows dedication to a band.
The creators, a family actually, had this to say about it when the Souls asked them to talk about the video:
When we saw the “Airport Security” video, with the cardboard sets and props, it just seemed natural to turn it into a Lego animation. Theresa constructed all the sets and props while Andrew and Brian, ages 12 and 13, did the bulk of the animating and Brian Sr. was the director/dictator and editor.
The whole project took two months and more hours than we are willing to admit to. We had all hoped that the Souls would see it but we never expected any feedback. Imagine our surprise when Kate contacted us and wanted to put it on the Souls web site!
We go to as many Souls shows as we can, which is about every 3 or 4 months. Their music truly speaks to us and we hope this video can express our gratitude. Thank you Bouncing Souls for 20 years and we hope for many more.
– Brian, Theresa, Brian and Andrew Westervelt
How cool is that? A family created this? A punk rock family at that.
Not too shabby. I wish I had the time to try something like this. I am sure I could not do it though. I am pretty sure I would be getting very frustrated about 3 minutes into the project. I’ll just stick to sharing stuff done by other cool folk.
I also thought I would mention that the Bouncing Souls are also helping out a friend in need and have been doing charity auctions on their label Chunksaah Records to help raise money.
Rich Cunningham formed Happy Days Records in 1995, releasing debut records by Hot Water Music and Ink & Dagger, as well as titles by Endeavor, Times Up, and Human Remains. In 2000 he formed New Labor, an alternative model of worker organization that combines new and existing strategies to improve working conditions and provide a voice for low-wage, young, immigrant workers in central New Jersey. In 2005 Rich was diagnosed with cancer and recently his battle has taken a turn for the worse.
Chunksaah Records and The Bouncing Souls will be auctioning off rare records, vinyl test pressing, limited poster prints, Bouncing Souls tickets, and anything else we think will help raise money for our friend.
If you are a Bouncing Souls fan you should head over to Chunksaah Records and see what goodies they are auctioning. They have been auctioning off some pretty rare stuff for this very worthy cause.
As far as the Bouncing Souls song a month project, here is the list up until August:
Track list for 20 Year Anniversary (so far):
“Gasoline” – (January)
“We All Sing Along” – (February)
“Airport Security” – (March)
“Dubs Says True” – (April)
“I Think That The World” – (May)
“Mental Bits – (June)
“Ghosts On The Boardwalk” – (July)
“Boogie Woogie Downtown” – (August)
CLICK HERE if you would like to download any of these great songs for only $0.99 each. Totally worth it.
The other day I was taking my boys on their morning walk around the marshmallow ghetto. As usual I was wearing my headphones that were not broken and jamming out to good jams contained within my iPod. As I got to an intersection I stopped to avoid getting run over.
While waiting for the light to turn green I noticed a car containing two cute girls smirking at me. Immediately I smiled back thinking that the sun might have been reflecting on me making my appearance that much more stunning. They both started giggling and I immediately thought they were giggling at my dogs because they are pretty cute too. I turned to look at them and thank them for attracting cute girls for me and that is when I discovered what all the smirking and giggling was all about.
Sweet Lou was taking a sweet poo.
Awesome.
Anyways I wanted to apologize for the lack of posts within the last few days after almost overflowing the site earlier this week with reviews and whatnot. Don’t worry I still have tons of material to review but sometimes work gets the best of me.
Today though I was approached by my friend’s website Sexy Photo Trip (SPT) about helping them out. The site is 18+ so all you youngsters you need not know what they are all about.
Marcos + Matt + Emily = Sexy Photo Trip
So what is Sexy Photo Trip you ask?
Here is a video that can explain it:
Bascially SPT is according to their site:
We are 2 photographers and a make up artist, traveling the country documenting our travels and telling our stories. We shoot naked girls throughout all of this. They are very nice and very tight. We like girls who chew gum and walk with confidence.
We are road trippers, documentarians and voyeurs. We’re here to document a day in the life of interesting women willing to share intimate details of their life with us and to make very nice, very tight sexy photo shoots.
It’s not porn by any means, it’s art and it’s fun. Marcos and I made nice nice a few years back when I was a writer for a certain site I care not to talk about any more. We met up in Austin for an event and have remained friends since. He is one of the reasons I got a little more serious with the camera and he is also the reason I speak like Borat a lot.
Marcos asked me if I could help SPT with supplying music for future videos seeing on how I am exposed to a lot of bands these days. Of course I said yes. I am looking forward to working with SPT in the near future and hopefully one day can be in on of their videos being remixed as I scream at traffic.
If you are interested in photography of beautiful women with little or no clothing as well as witty smart humor head over to Sexy Photo Trip and see what happens when three friends travel around the country for the sole purpose of taking sexy photos. Nice.
