Category: News

That was the question and loose theme of U2’s show in Norman, OK last Sunday night.  J, T, CA and I made the pilgrimage down to catch the nearest stop the 360 Tour is making to KC.

There aren’t really words.

If you’ve seen a DVD or video clips, you know what to expect; stadium-sized sound, the biggest lights and screens around, some simple-but-brilliant theatricality, several songs from the latest album coupled with a generous number of hits and classics.  Bono, Edge, Adam, and Larry delivered – and I was perfectly caught up in it all.

(If you haven’t, check them out live or in playback on YouTube tomorrow night!)

The best thing about the show has been the way it’s refreshed all of the music; we listened to “No Line on the Horizon” twice on the way home, and it was like hearing it for the first time, only deeper.  Amazingly, it was the same for me the next day with “The Joshua Tree.”

I left memorial stadium singing quietly to myself and my friends, skipping among “Moment of Surrender,” “Breathe,” and “Magnificent.”  All new tunes.
Scattered thoughts:

• They played “Mysterious Ways!”  It hasn’t been on many setlists from this tour.  It’s my ultimate turbonitrothunder favorite song, and changed my life when I was 9 or so; I’d been a country/R&B listener up to that point, but Edge’s weirdo guitar sound introduced me to the rock, and I haven’t been the same since.
• It was fun to hear Edge start “In a Little While” in the wrong key for about a bar, then stop and re-start.  Even from our seats in the lower rows, I could see the knowing smile that passed between him and Bono.
• Wish the band would have released “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” as the first single – the album could be in a very different place, I think, if they’d done that – and it’s inexplicable to me why they played a live remix that sounds like a “Zooropa” b-side.  (On the other hand, the riff to the remix has been in and out of my head more than any other specific tune all week long.)
• Loved the staging, lighting, and costuming for “Ultraviolet” (pictured above).
• CA got some great photos I’m anxious to see.

Massive kudos to J for watching the tour announcements, and hovering on the interwebs the day tickets went on sale.
Setlist:
Breathe
Get on Your Boots
Magnificent
Mysterious Ways
Beautiful Day
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
Stuck In A Moment
No Line on the Horizon
Elevation
In A Little While
Unknown Caller
Until The End of the World
Unforgettable Fire
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I’ll Go Crazy – Remix
Sunday Bloody Sunday
MLK
Walk On

One
Where The Streets Have No Name

Ultraviolet
With or Without You
Moment of Surrender

If you’ve been reading you know I’ve been getting into the world of hip-hop mixtapes.  Casey’s “Live from New York: 1994-2001” is unusual in that it’s not new, remixed, or promotional; it’s 46 classic NY tracks seamlessly blended and available here.  Happy listening. -h

Here’s the fifth part of the Listening Project series (pt.1 – pt. 2 – pt. 3 – pt. 4); As our fifth birthday passed in September, I’ve been listening to every release roughly in order, making notes as I go.

MFR020 – Cory Kibler, “The Silent Woods”

• Cory did the vocal and guitar tracks in Omaha with Matt Wisecarver, so I have fewer memories of making this record than I usually would, it seems.
• For as much music as Cory’s made, this is sort of his Solo Record to date, which kind of doesn’t seem right. But there it is.
• Matt mondegreened “Losing track / of time in the summer” from “Top Secret Pizza Party” into “Losing track of Tommy Lasorda.” That’s him coming into the booth at the end of #7 grumbling “Where is that Tommy Lasorda?”
• Just tonight, as I was listening and singing along to “The Silent Woods” in the car, I realized that I always sing the *harmony* parts when I sing to Cory’s songs. When I do that, it kind of feels like hanging out with Cory, in a way. I’ll have to remember to do that more when I’m bummed out, so I can feel better. I suppose it’s a habit left over from Shacker. But it’s literally hard to sing for me to sing the original melodies; it’s the harmonies that are lodged in my memory.
• Because of its presence on “XMAS,” “How We Can Know” gave me a whisper of Christmas tonight; weird and cool. I took it as a sign that the project to reclaim and reshape our musical sense-memories of the holidays is actually working.
• Chad’s art is beautiful; I think it’s my favorite in the MFR catalog.

MFR021 – Katherine Lindhart, “The Humble Antiphon”

• I’m so proud of this release: 1) Katy is awesome. 2) We have art songs on our label! 3) Clara Schumann is awesome. 4) Art songs have been my avenue into listening to art music. I always enjoyed singing and playing art music, but was never a listener until I realized that there were these perfect, bite-sized pearls of voice and piano out there. This discovery came mostly through the experience of having many Opera Friends in KC, and going to their recitals. The music of The Humble Antiphon is taken from two (I think) of Katy’s recitals. The Schumann pieces, 1-3, come from 2007. The Debussy, if I remember, was recorded in 2006.
• I know this album as well and better than lots of pop music I listen to.
• I vacillate on the mastering work; I pushed it harder than art music usually is, but I definitely wanted it to hang with the other stuff on MFR and pop music in general and not seem overly quiet. On days when I’m feeling generous with myself I think that it updates the phenomenon of vintage recording gear’s (we’re talking victrola era, here!) inherent compression. The peak of “Spleen” crosses the line, but only for a moment, and given its place on the album we felt like it worked with the whole thrust of the thing, not against it.
• The photo is from an opera, not one of the recitals, but we liked the theater of it.

MFR022 – Robot, Creep Closer!, “Real Awful, Real Quick”

• This EP came as a surprise; I hadn’t really known that Robot! was in the studio, or planning something for MFR. Maybe they’d intended a CD release, then re-thought it – I can’t remember.
• Definitely a more nuanced thing than their first EP. See: the sexy chk-chks on the guitar during the chorus of “Cockblocking,” the way “…Summer…” never rips open, and “Sexy Survival” in its entirety.
• …though “2tally Out Of Control” is the essence of Robot!, distilled and refined weirdo party metal.

We’re working one out, which is exciting!

Sally Ride’s “There is Something and not nothing,” XMAS, new Furious Instance, and releases from several Lincoln-based artists are in the works.  I almost announced a date for “…not nothing,” but then realized that depending on some details I could get it to you sooner than what I’d planned.

So.  Just a blog, not news, *yet.*  But we are real close to some serious stuff.  Cheers.  -h

From: alex@theinter.net
To: Rob@email.com
Subject: arturo fan needs music lol

hey this is the guy from the thread did you find the music?

From: Rob@email.com
To: alex@theinter.net
Subject: Re: arturo fan needs music lol

Hey man, Found everything I have – got the EP (Yes, Ray), the LP (Fireflies) and the live record (Numbers):

http://www.dreamnotoftoday.com/mp3/ArturoGotTheShaft-ALifeWithoutFireflies.zip

http://www.dreamnotoftoday.com/mp3/ArturoGotTheShaft-NumbersStations.zip

http://www.dreamnotoftoday.com/mp3/ArturoGotTheShaft-YesRayIBelieveInGod.zip

Thanks for checking in. Made my week. Best,

Rob

From: alex@theinter.net
To: Rob@email.com
Subject:THANK YOU!!!

thank you man its great to see that you guys are still making music loved it then and love it now please continue to make it. your fan, alex
p.s. i love you too is my favorite i think i have tabbed it out right maybe you could correct it i have attached a word document and again thank you for your music.

From: Rob@email.com
To: howie@home.org
Subject: FW: THANK YOU!!!

Thought I would pass along a note I got this week from a guy who found Fireflies on (d)N0t.  Really made my week.

From: howie@home.org
To: Rob@email.com
Subject: RE: FW: THANK YOU!!!

And now, mine too. Thanks, rocker. Hope you’re well. I’m keeping on. Both my “…not nothing” record and the first Fifty Bears stuff are almost done. -h

I’ve been browing the mixtape archives of NahRight for a few weeks, pulling some stuff off of there (like Truck North and some Mos Def b-sides/rarities/old jams).

My latest find is Mick Boogie’s “Re-Living Thing,” which takes Peter, Bjorn, & John’s latest record “Living Thing” and re-mixes it with raps from MCs like Bun B, Talib Kweli, GZA, and Rhymefest.

Like Tor did with Sufjan Stevens’ “Illinois” on “Illinoize,” the original tunes are recognizable but seriously transformed; a couple instrumental hooks from the PB&J version are lifted and matched with new sounds and beats.  The result is essentially a new song, but with a genetic link to the original.

Whether you’re a longstanding hip-hop head or an indie person looking for an in, there’s something for you on “Re-Living Thing.”  3/5 stars. -h

• Fifty Bears’ guitars are finished.  Drew has done an amazing job, and even the rough mixes sound rad.  Next: vocals and mixing on 4-6 tunes, band practice (for the first time in six months!), and prepping for live shows and an initial release of the same 4-6 tunes.
• I’m discovering Imogen Heap’s “Speak For Yourself” album this morning, based on Bob’s recommendation of her as an artist in general.  “Speak…” is freely available on Skreemr, if you’re willing to assemble all 12 tracks.  I’d say I’m a little late to the party, but it’s never too late for good jams.
• Still mixing “…not nothing.”  Good progress.  I plan to have a new reference disc done today.
• MFR’s fifth birthday is rapidly approaching…  I’m starting to think we’ll celebrate with some charts ‘n grafs.
• Inspired by Cari Ann’s comment that we should put Dorothy Lynch on tacos, I invented an amazing taco recipe; last night’s first test was a massive success.  I’ll post it to MR|Kitchen soon.

In the past few weeks I’ve been making steady progress on the mix for the next Sally Ride album, “There is Something and not nothing.”  It will definitely be out this fall, though I’m hoping to get one other release out first.

Final tweaks include inching up the vocals, adding a couple last-minute synth parts to flesh sections out, and generally making sure the metaphorical narrative arc of each song is coming through.

It’s been fun to see songs I wasn’t sure about come alive in their own ways.  Matt’s second round of drumming really took tracks like “Yr Right” and “Turning the Wheel” to the next level, giving them their own story to stand alongside stuff that jammed from the very beginning (“Out,” “The Biggest Choice You Make (Every Day)”).

On my last round of mixes I roughed in some mastering settings too, and they’re really killing right now; I can’t think of anything I want to change.  So I’m looking forward to the mastering being easy.  The mixes are really punchy and have a lot for the ears to grab on to, and I don’t want to lose any of that.  Individual sounds are fairly distorted, so I don’t want to over-do that, either.  Just some reverb and EQ mostly, level the song-to-song volumes out, widen the stereo image, and call it good. -h

Wax Trax in Denver was very kind to me last weekend.  With an phenomenal selection of used and new vinyl for great prices (esp. the used!), my stack of records grew and grew until I had to get out before it got to be too much to carry back to the car several blocks away.  I found some stuff I’d been looking for in KC (The Pretty Things and “Who Are You”) for over a year.

The used records were in beautiful shape, and I only paid $3-4 for each!
The only disappointment; no “Kinda Kinks” or other early Kinks stuff I’d have liked.

Here’s the full list:

• The Pretty Things, “Savage Eye” and “Freeway Madness.”  Drew’s gotten me into The Pretty Things, a ’60s-’70s British band that was psychedelic before The Beatles, sprawling before Pink Floyd, heavy before Led Zeppelin, and somehow managed never to break in the U.S.  These two albums are mid-’70s stuff, right before some personnel changes, and so they’re not classic like “Parachute” or “S.F. Sorrow” but have some solid tunes.
• U2, “Boy,” “October,” “War,” and the “Where The Streets Have No Name” single.  I already have most of this stuff on CD, but the condition of the records and low price were irresistible.  The “Streets” single has two B-sides I haven’t heard, which is cool.  Old U2 really comes alive on vinyl; it can seem kind of bright and empty on CD, but the LPs fill in the space around Edge’s ringing guitars and make it all gel.
• Art Tatum, “Gene Norman Presents Art Tatum at the Piano,” vols. 1 and 2.  Tim loaned me a two-disc Tatum compilation a year or two ago, and I loved it.  I’ve been looking for some Tatum at a good price ever since, and these seemed like a good place to start.  His piano style is fully his own, taking familiar tunes and embellishing, improvising, and ultimately transforming them into music more original than most artists’ own compositions.
• The Who, “Who Are You.”  Besides being a great rock record, I’ve wanted this to continue filling in the gaps in my Lifehouse playlist.
• Bruce Springsteen, “Nebraska.”  I’m not a huge Springsteen fan yet (“Born in the U.S.A.” is my only other Boss record), but this seemed essential for several reasons: the title, the yin-yang it makes stylistically with “Born…,” and its reputation as a masterpiece.
• Neil Young, “Hawks & Doves.”  Young’s discography is intimidating, but I have a start, and this seemed like a good next step.  It’s pretty classic Young.
• The Cars, “The Cars.”  Six of these nine songs are on a Cars “Greatest Hits” comp, but again, the pristine physical quality of the LP and low price seduced me!
• Billy Joel, “Cold Spring Harbor” and “Storm Front.”  Neither of these are Joel albums I really planned to pick up, but there they were, calling out.  “Cold Spring Harbor” was his first as a solo artist, and most copies of it were pressed at the wrong speed; Billy was famously unhappy with it.  “Storm Front” is late-period Joel, so my expectations are low, but it does include “And So It Goes,” which I love.

Here’s the fourth part of the Listening Project series (pt.1 – pt. 2 – pt. 3); As our fifth birthday approaches in September, I’ve started listening to every release roughly in order, making notes as I go.

• MFR018 – howie&scott, “Summer’s End”
• It had been a little over two years since h&s had been regularly playing shows when we did this day’s worth of sets for Scott’s band students at Plattsmouth Middle School.  Now it’s been almost 3 years since “Summer’s End,” but it feels like it’s gone faster since; “Summer’s End” could feel like just a year ago.
• We played and recorded 4-5 sets through the day, and picked the best for “Summer’s End.”  The tracks *are,* however, in chronological order among the sets; each song was played earlier in the day than the following one.
• Engineering-wise, this record was made using one condenser mic placed at the back of the band room.  Bone-simple!  My bass synth ran through my guitar amp to give some presence, and vocals/sax through a PA.
• The vocal monitoring situation was… non-existent :-(
• We planned to record that night’s show at Doane, but technical problems prevented that.  It’s kind of a beautiful shame; that night we played some of our best-ever electric performances.  Thanks to those who were there!
• We just practiced for an hour or something the night before the sets.  Scott and I have always been able to pick back up after a break with minimal rehearsal.  I mean, we’re not The Tightest Band Ever, but we slip back into the groove easily.
• I don’t know why the photo of Mars seemed perfect for the cover…
• I should re-learn “Berlin.”  Listening back, I’d forgotten that it’s a pretty good song.  Scott’s clarinet and drum patterns have a lot of character.
• The toms sound sweet!  See “Berlin” and “Houston.”
• I’m still searching for the right recording of the “signs” material, still hoping to take another shot at it someday.
• Hearing the Easter III riff is bittersweet.  I woke up once with an amazing riff from a dream in my head, and actually figured it out accurately, and I thought for sure I’d remember when I got up in the morning.  But didn’t.  The EIII riff is what I worked out from what I semi-remembered, not the original, so hearing it I’m reminded that it’s just an echo of a perfect dream-riff… but it’s an echo I love.

.

• MFR019 – Sally Ride, “It’s a Trap”
• The guitars were recorded at 5*Matt’s (sister’s) house, Cory’s overdubs in an attic bedroom filled with Barbie dolls.
• Since the album had a political element, I was working to get it out in time for the ’06 elections, but didn’t make it.  Which took some of the piss out of it, I think, hearing it after the events it was written to affect.  Still, today, we haven’t seen near enough genuine outrage at the actions of the Bush administration.  More than plenty faux-liberal self-righteous indignation, but not enough true anger.
• This has been my biggest experiment in production to date; not only the synth-drums, but no bass guitar – just organ.
• This album is the middle of my “Kansas City trilogy.”  “Ventura” is about moving to KC, “It’s a Trap” about living here, and “You Have To Wear The Boots” was written as I was mentally preparing to leave.  (But I haven’t.)
• I’ve told before how “Holy Moses” was the first Sally Ride song after “Don’t Let Them Take Us… ALIVE” and a complete surprise, but its roots are in the tune “Abilene” by George Hamilton IV.  I learned a campfire version on a house-building trip to Mexico, and heard something in an A/Am chord change that triggered my imagination.
• Not sure what to make of the nautical/military themes… they weren’t conscious when I was writing, they were just how I was making sense of things in terms of narrative and character.
• I always love to hear my friends singing! (“Holy Moses” / “Back In The Fire”)
• “Lookers” / “Baby Bells…” – There’s an interesting use of artistic voice here, personifying an organization with malicious intent toward the listener.  I guess the goal would be to give the listener a fictional experience that would provoke a real-life response.  (A similar trick happens at the end of “David S. Addington…” except the group is an “us” instead of a “them.”)
• “Just Observing” is written with a terrifying detachment.  I guess I still care enough to sing, which is a bare hope, but hope.
• The album as a whole is deeply skeptical.  Not quite wholly nihilistic, but it’s… rough.
• I’m not too thrilled with the overall mastering, but I can’t pinpoint what’s dissatisfying.
• On the third line of “We The People,” I wish I could go back and enunciate “We’*RE* all living…”  It sounds like “We all…” which would be a lame attempt at… I don’t know, rural authenticity or something, but was not my intent.  I don’t know how I missed it in the mixing.