Elliott Smith
I have Jeff Samardzija to thank for this one. Being the big Cubs fan that I am, I check out Jeff Samardzija’s blog from time to time. He actually listens to good music and had this video of Elliott Smith up on his site. It is a performance on David Letterman. I have heard stories that Smith was really erratic on stage and that his shows were hit or miss.
He sounds pretty good here:
Hot Damn, what a great songwriter. I haven’t listened to him in a while, but this video might make me go on a little Elliott Smith binge…..
P.S. I hope everyone enjoyed the first installment of “Spud Nation.” I see great things to come from Spud. Look out for Spud Nation weekly.
Spud Nation Vol. 1: Dooking
“Dooking” by Spud (aka Sly)
I will always partake in bobbing for apples on Halloween. It soothes my ghoulish soul. Cajoling random strangers by submerging your face into a basin of liquid, opening your mouth, and swallowing a thick Washington apple gets my blood pumping every time. Last Halloween, Nick Nolte, John Daley and I visited the Playboy mansion and joined The Girls Next Door in a friendly bobbing for apples contest. Losers had to take a mug shot– it wasn’t pretty. Hey, I love the game, but its lost some of its pizzazz.
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Bobbing for apples was a fall classic long before the World Series and Mr. October found their way into Americans’ hearts. Tracing back to the mid 1800s, this colonial game amongst friends would reveal who would lose their virginity that All Hallow Tide.. Apples, long synonymous with sex and fertility, were soaked in gin and placed in a basin of tonic mix—also the inspiration for a drink. Female participants ‘bobbed’ in the extra long basin for apples, hoping they weren’t the one who’d wake up next to John Jacob the next morning. Let’s just say the game has gotten more child friendly over the years–and I don’t like it.
This Halloween, I’m asking that everyone bobb for apples, old school.
Introducing Spud Nation
In a little bit, we will be introducing a new feature on A Tender Praise called “Spud Nation.” Spud Nation will be a weekly written column by the one and only Spud (aka Sly.) Spud will be writing about topics that he finds interesting and that he thinks YOU will find interesting.
Stay tuned and check it out!
Frank Fairfield
We saw Frank Fairfield open for Fleet Foxes at the Metro a couple weeks ago. Not knowing who he was, it was a pleasant surprise. Fairfield is a street musician who plays American folk and mountain music using the fiddle, guitar and the banjo. Most enjoyable is his clawhammer style banjo playing.
DOWNLOAD:
MP3: Frank Fairfield: Darling Corey from I’ve Always Been A Rambler
Alice In Wonderland Remix
This is not that new, but still deserves a post.
The music video for my song ‘Alice’, an electronic piece of which 90% is composed using sounds recorded from the Disney film ‘Alice In Wonderland’.
The Singing Cab Driver
On Sunday night I had the most strange and wonderful cab ride experience of my life. Colin, Rachel and I hailed a cab around Lincoln and Ashland to take us to the Metro for the Fleet Foxes concert. I can’t remember the initial conversation we had with the cab driver, but right away we knew he was different. First of all he was wearing a suit and had the voice of a guy narrating a commercial for Tic Tacs. He started talking and said he sings songs and asked if we would like for him to sing a song for us. At this point my overall state of mind would probably be best described as confused. I wasn’t really expecting the cab driver to be wearing a suit, let alone talk like he was a cartoon character. So I guess you can say it took my off guard.
He gave us a choice to choose a song from the following categories: Love, Sex, Social Significance, Dreams and Other. We chose “Other.” He listed off another set of categories that I can’t remember but within them we Chose “Cowboys.”
The next 3 minutes were the most tripped out experience I have ever had in a cab. The cab driver proceeded to sing a whole song about cowboys and cab driving. At one point he synced up the song with the lights in the cab and for a couple lyrics flashed the lights as he looked back at me. This actually freaked me out a bit. After the song we gave him a nice round of applause. At this point I think we were all still a little stunned and skeptical even though we were having a great time listening and laughing to his song. I mean, it is not everyday you have a cab ride like this.
After he sang the song he asked us what our day jobs were. We were very vague and said we worked with computers. From this, he launched into a hilarious improvised (i think) dialogue about computers taking over the world in the future that went something like this. “In the year 2012 microchips start to have minds of their own. By 2014 Cyborg Net has uploaded a database of new microprob machines which start to control the worlds financial institutions. In 2016…..” You get the idea.
As we came to a complete stop at the Metro he started to talk semi-normal and explained that he was the Singing Cab Driver and gave us each a little promotional card with his information on it. At this point I realized he wasn’t completely insane, it was all part of his act and that he is a folk legend here in Chicago.
Not a bad way to start off an incredible concert by Fleet Foxes.
His official name is:
That Urban-Legendary, Twenty-First Century, City and Eastern Son of the Singing Cowboy Movies, the Mother Effing Teresa of Showbiz, that White Tom Jones:
RAY, ST. RAY, THE SINGING CAB DRIVER!
He also says:
Sorry…You can’t Just call Ray St. Ray for a ride… Who gets The Singing Cab Driver is a cosmically selective process. When your karma is due, he’ll just show up to make your day, shamelessly promote his career agenda and deliver you to your destination in one piece, right side up. Watch for The Singing Cab Driver on the streets, in the media and in your dreams!
I guess our karma was due!
Check out his website: www.singingcabdriver.com/
His website is pretty much a blog and actually has a a lot of interesting posts about the taxi business and being a cab driver in general.
Also, To Ray, if you notice this link back to your site and are reading this, thank you for the cab ride of a lifetime!!!
Loud’n Clear
So I have a confession to make. I made my first impulse infomercial purchase of my life today. I was watching some TV and the most amazing infomercial I have ever seen in my life came on.
Check it out:
After watching I immediately picked up my computer and went to www.getloudandclear.com/ and ordered my very own Loud’N Clear.
My logic for making this purchase is the following:
1. This has to be the greatest infomercial I have ever seen and I need to support it. I was cracking up. My favorite segments are the grandma playing bingo, the suburban lady who overhears her neighbors talk about her new car purchase and the guy in the bar who overhears two chicks saying he is cute. “OMG, Tammy, that guy over there is so cute!!!” “Yea, Darcy, I know!!! Totally!!! And that fucking headset he is wearing soooo turns me on!!!” Give it 3 months and 30% of guys in bars will be wearing headsets.
2. I had genuine curiosity to see if this thing actually works. Don’t be surprised if you see me in the park with my Loud’N Clear headset on, attempting to eavesdrop on peoples conversations. I will most likely be hiding behind a tree. I think it will also be fun to pretend I am in a deep conversation on my bluetooth headset when in reality I am spying on people.
In all seriousness, I really want to know if this works. And for $14.99, what do I have to lose? I mean, what else should you do when the economy is in the shitter? Thats right, get inspired by an infomercial to purchase a sound amplifying headset.
Young Marley
About five years ago I bought a Bob Marley CD in Denver. I have since lost the actual CD, but I still have it in my itunes. I am pretty sure it was one of those compilation albums made by some obscure record company. In my itunes it is titled simply “Album”, so I have no idea what it really is. All I know is that it contains 16 of the best Bob Marley tracks ever recorded, all from Bob Marley’s early years and most likely recorded around 1970. A couple of the songs later ended up re-recorded on Bob Marley albums such as Kaya and Burnin, but these early recorded versions blow them out of the water.
My two favorites are “Soul Rebel” and “Small Axe.” This recording of Soul Rebel is probably my favorite Bob Marley track ever.
Download:
MP3: Bob Marley: Soul Rebel
MP3: Bob Marley: Small Axe
As a comparison of how some of these early tracks were re-recorded on later albums, check out these two versions of “Sun is Shining.” The first version is an early recording from my “Album” and the second is from “Kaya.” I vote for the early version!!!
Download:
MP3: Bob Marley: Sun is Shining (Early Version)
MP3: Bob Marley: Sun is Shining (Kaya Version)
Soulwax vs. Justice
This fall two party starters, Soulwax and Justice, are both releasing tour rockumentaries. Both look pretty awesome. DJ Darnoc has already acquired the Soulwax one and after an intense Friday night Techo Jam session we watched part of it for some inspiration. Lets just say it lives up to the trailer.
Soulwax: Part of the Weekend Never Dies. Trailer below
Justice: A Cross The Universe (Warning, slightly NSFW, two very brief boob shots). Trailer below
Christmas On Mars
I remember back in College, probably around 2002 or 2003, visiting the Flaming Lips website and reading about a movie they were making entitled, “Christmas on Mars.” They had a bunch of still photos posted from the movie set and they were saying the movie was coming out soon. Over the years I kept checking back at the website to see the status of the movie and it looked like it was becoming a Chinese Democracy. Well, fast forward 5 years later and the movie is finally getting released.
Above is the trailer. I really don’t know what to think but no matter how good or how bad it is, I will probably enjoy it.
Now that we are on the topic of the Flaming Lips movies, if you haven’t seen the Flaming Lips documentary The Fearless Freaks which came out a couple years back, check it out. Wayne Coyne’s mouth can run for miles at times, but he is ultimately charming.
