The bass in review

Because some anonymous commenter wants to know my take on the whole Decibel thing . . .

I think last year set the bar too high. (See here.)

I was not blown away by anyone's set. There wasn't a night that I had to be pried off the dance floor. Call it old age, but truthfully I felt that the acts were sub-par, and the whole festival could have been a lot tighter.

Thursday night, I waited in line for 20 minutes after going to the front to see if it was will call or to purchase, apparently it was both. So when I got to the front, I gave the ticket girl my name and she asked if I was on the TicketsWest list or the club list. "I don't know," I told her, "I bought a festival pass."

"Oh," she said, "You'll have to go to the Artificial Limb Company. That's where you get your festival wristband." Super. Six blocks away and I was already missing some of Simian Mobile Disco's set. So all the adrenaline and anticipation that had been building in the cab ride and waiting in line hearing the fat bass escape from the club quickly turned to irritation.

Have you ever noticed when you're excited about something, and then something else postpones the payoff, that your irritation is amplified? Yeah. Well, at least my anger propelled me up the street quicklier.

As I left the Artificial Limb Company with my bracelet, I ran into Donte and Svetlana. Their presence reinvigorated my adrenaline. So I arrived to hear the last half hour or so of Simian Mobile Disco's set--although they did play one of my least favorite songs to hear out, Laid Back's "Ride the White Horse." Their set was fun and party oriented. I danced a ton. I got really, really sweaty.

By the time Switch took the stage, I had already resigned myself to heading in to work. So I stood by the sidelines and enjoyed what he was playing. It wasn't nearly as ass-heavy as Simian Mobile Disco, and from what I could tell, the tracks were all his own, but it was decent.

Friday night I camped at Chop Suey for Jacob London and DJ Heather. I thought both sets were good. Jacob London took a techier approach than I was expecting and Heather brought her well-branded sound.

Saturday was Jerry Abstract, Robert Babicz, 3 Channels and Speedy J. We left before Speedy J even took the stage. Babicz set was mind numbing. He rode the effects processor like a hippie--a hippe in a Venom t-shirt. 3 Channels had not one, but two technical difficulties that stopped the party dead in its tracks. After two other nights of dancing, I just couldn't hang for Speedy J.

My other issue was with the "VIP" room for Neumo's. Where is it? Upstairs? In Moe's bar? These are the sorts of things that I paid for with my 4 day pass, but I didn't even get an email to tell me where things were or how to access them. I would really liked to have heard Jeff Samuel's set, but I didn't know how to find him.

I will tell you that next year I won't be buying a pass. I'll be cherry picking the acts I want to see and I won't make myself exhausted. I hope next year they bring some better acts.

Sean Horton, the guy who runs DecFest, is bringing Trentemoller here on October 8th. I'm sure his show will be far and away better than all the acts at this year's Decibel Fest.

Carry me

I haven't gotten it yet, but I already love it.
"Get a new bag" has been on my to do list for a very, very long time.
I've had the same Gap messenger for at least five years. It is old and and the plastic in the ID case is warped and the old girl just needs to be put down. I haven't been holding onto it for any reason other than I haven't been able to find something I like--and there's no way in hell I'm spending more than a hundred bones on a new one.
Sure, there's a couple Tumis that are ok (and way too expensive). I even considered an Armani Exchange tote. This morning, I found a Puma bag that I liked well enough, so I placed it in the virtual cart and at the bottom of the screen was thumbnail for the Oxio Freedomer.
Finally after literally years of nearly buying something, I made the commitment. She's a beauty--and well under the hundred buck limit.

I Get It, I Got It, You Know Its Good

Tonight begins the crazy four night extravaganza that is the Decibel Festival. This is the fourth year of the electronic music festival, and I'm more than a bit excited.

The lineup, for me, will look something like this--

Tonight

Simian Mobile Disco

Switch

Diplo

Tomorrow

Jacob London

DJ Heather

Saturday

Harold Budd & Robin Guthrie

Jerry Abstract

Mike Shannon

Speedy J

Jeff Samuel

Sunday

Italoboyz

Claude von Stroke

I was going to have a t-shirt made that said, "Its the Beat!" or have the graphic of a hotdog for tonight's show, but as usual, I procrastinated.

Regardless, I will be dancing, a whole, whole bunch.

Stay tuned for silly visuals . . .

In other news, the list of 100 Great Non-English films was posted on this site.

There are a few surprises. City of God appearing so high on the list really baffled me (especially above my beloved Cocteau), but really its no surprise to find almost the entire oeuvre of Kurasawa, Truffaut, Bergman, and Fellini. I pretty much detest Y Tu Mama Tambien and Amores Perros, so their inclusion is a huge gift, in my opinion. Interesting that Run, Lola, Run made the list at all. I find De Sica and the neorealists to be unbearably boring--Bicycle Thieves in particular I find to be an arduous affair.

If you want to know my take on everyone's number one foreign film, read here.

Dogs are barkin'

Went hiking Saturday morning.
Shot a cover for our upcoming folk album.

Big thanks to Earl and Bucko for letting us tag along.

Watched Perfume on Friday. It was ok. I just couldn't hook into the tone.

Watched the pilot for the new Bionic Woman. It is many layers of crappy.

Played the game on Saturday night. My boyfriend rules the universe.

Monday. Really? Yuck.

Have I told you lately

I love that every Friday Amazon sends me a list of movies that I can download directly to my Tivo box for 99 cents. I think that's pretty awesome. Sure, most of the movies have been crap, but for a buck--and I don't have to go to Blockbuster--can't be beat.

So far we've done TMNT, Zodiac, Hot Fuzz, and, um, a couple I can't recall right now.

For tonight, Perfume and the pilot for NBC's Bionic Woman (which was free).

I am also loving Palermo's. Phil and I stopped in for lunch a couple Saturdays ago. It was great, but what I really love is free delivery and ordering on-line. Their lasagna comes in one of those thick heavy duty foil containers with a cardboard top. Its actually baked in that container and the level of crispiness that the cheese along the edge gets is all kinds of perfect. Their polpette is prepared similarly and is equally as satisfying--especially if you're in the mood for balls.

Oh, and delivery is wikkid hella fast.

Oh, and will everyone please start saving some scratch to buy my this for Christmas? Yes, I realize I don't need it by any stretch of the imagination, but its so cool! And so cool-looking!

Have a great weekend, I'll be hiking. And yes, gayming.

Threadbare

Anyone else going to Thread this Sunday?
Seems like it would be right up Andrew and Bill's respective alleys.
50% off denim sounds good.
Still, its on Sunday and I'm hiking on Saturday with Earl, so chances are I'll skip it.
If you go, though, please let me know how it is.


Also, there's a pre-party tonight at Havana. If you're interested in hearing Wesley Holmes play for free, email me and I'll shoot you the address you use to get on the list.

I will rule the universe

Ok, let's get something clear. While I appreciate your concern for Janice, it probably makes her skin crawl. Especially since she (most likely) didn't have anything too wrong other than a case of the blues. Then she went to Bumbershoot and got bumber-roughed-up which I'm sure added frustration and aggravation to said malaise.

So I was just being a friend. We've known each other for many (many, many) years and that's what friends do. You say, "Hey friend, sorry you're blue, aren't unicorns cool?"

And then your friend says, "Thanks for trying to cheer me up."

So, even though I haven't spoken to Janice in over a week, I'm sure we'll get together in the not-too-distant future to commiserate over a cup'a'joe.

Ok. So. That's out of the way.

What're my weekend plans? Well, earlier in the week, Matthew had the wise idea of solidifying our stranglehold as kings of homebound nerds. So he went out and bought an $80 board game.

Its called Twilight Imperium and it looks to be uber-nerdy. So there will be a lot of going over the 44-page rule book tonight. And tomorrow will be the first official game. I think that Matt, Phil and I will be the only players. That's ok, that allows me the luxury of interpreting the rules to say, "Jeremy rules the universe."

Average playtime is 4-6 hours. Sweet.
The game should be an on-going thing. Like "the Saturday night" thing or something. Next year is my year of "buckling down," and attempting to build up a chunk of money for a downpayment on a place. So having a long-standing, stay at home diversion could be an excellent way of passing the time. We'd also love to have a rotating cast of nerds come join us, so hit me up if you're interested.

Sunday I'll be initiating the new members of the chorus. Its a simple task. Their handlers come in, trot them around in a circle. I cup their balls and check their teeth, then pick a best in show. Actually, I'll just be relaying my experiences from my first year in the chorus.

I'm still working on OKDJ 11. I don't know what the deal is. I get started with it, then just hate it and scrap it. Check back, though. It could be up as early as next week.

Oh, but you want to know what tracks are on it? Here's a sample:

Simian Mobile Disco - It's the Beat

Giorgio Moroder - From Here to Eternity

Simian Mobile Disco is opening the Decibel Festival on September 20th.

Cheering Up Janice, Part the Second

I called and sang "True Colors" into her voice mail.
I called and sang "I Just Called to Say I Love You" into her voice mail.
Now, she is bruised.

I know what will cheer her up! Unicorns! Heyyy!