It's Only A Model

Monty Python's Spamalot
Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville, TN
Wednesday, February 13, 2008

My first exposure to British comedy came when I was about ten. Monty Python and The Holy Grail was playing on HBO, and my dad called me downstairs to watch it (a decision I'm sure he's come to regret later in life). I certainly didn't get all the jokes at the time. I'm sure the bits about oral sex and various forms of government went over my head, but I thought the Black Knight and the killer rabbit were hilarious, and it planted the seed that would grow into an annoying, quote spewing weed when MTV started running Monty Python's Flying Circus on Sunday nights after my senior year of high school. So since my dad was the one who started me down that road, it was only fitting that he got us tickets for the touring edition of Spamalot when it made its stop in Nashville.

I'd heard mixed reviews of the show, so I went in with tempered expectations. And while the show certainly wasn't perfect, it was hilarious. Even having seen the movie more times than I can count, there were enough new jokes to keep things fresh. They even worked in a local reference or two, including a Pacman Jones punchline that brought down the house. Really, the only weak moments of the show came during a couple of the songs, which were kind of hit or miss. I thought the whole outing of Sir Lancelot sequence was bizarre and unnecessary, but then you had moments like the pro-semitism of "You Won't Succeed on Broadway," or the Broadway mocking "The Song That Goes Like This" that more than made up for it. Nashville audiences were also some of the first that got to hear the new revised lyrics to "Diva's Lament." And while my first thought upon learning that Life of Brian's "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" was included was that there was nothing Eric Idle wouldn't do to pimp that song, the way it was used actually worked really well. All in all, it ended up doing the source material proud, and made for a great evening for Python fans both old and new.

Monty Python - "Camelot" (mp3) from the Monty Python and The Holy Grail soundtrack

Get My Slippers

It never fails... whenever I get home from a vacation, this song immediately pops into my head the minute I walk in the door. Tonight was no exception.

Frank Sinatra - "It's Nice To Go Trav'ling" (mp3) from Come Fly With Me

Mirror, Mirror

I have a new favorite blog... Stuff White People Like. As Homer Simpson would say, it's funny cuz it's true. Since this is a music blog, I'll steer you towards the entries on Mos Def, indie music, and standing still at concerts. But the whole thing is golden, and I guarantee it'll be a huge timesuck at work today.

Cowboys Sweetheart

I was pretty sure I'd like Amanda Shires even before she started her set at the 5 Spot last week. For starters, I'd heard her on WRVU a couple of weeks ago, so I had a pretty good idea what I was in for. But the thing that clinched it for me, before she had even sung a note, was when she did an off the cuff take of "Stardust" during her soundcheck. As much as I love Sinatra and Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald, I think my favorite version of that song is Willie Nelson's, and hearing Hoagy Carmichael's melody on the fiddle evoked memories of his take on it. It was a great (and unplanned) start to a fantastic set.

After making a name for herself as a vocalist and fiddler with the Thrift Store Cowboys, Amanda has spent the last few months playing around Nashville with A Band of Men. She plays country music... the good kind. It's not particulary hip or trendy or alternative or any other adjective people like to throw in front of the c-word around here to differentiate themselves often abysmal tripe that Music Row generates. It's just really good songs, sung by a voice with just the right amount of twang, and punctuated by fantastic fiddle playing. The kind of music that even people who claim to not like country wouldn't be able to help enjoying. It's contemporary and timeless and fantastic.

Amanda and her Band of Men will be playing at the Basement in Nashville tomorrow nite, Tuesday, February 19, at 9 pm. If you miss that, they'll also be at FooBar on Thursday, March 6.

Amanda Shires - "Keep It Close" (mp3) from Being Brave

The Beginning and The End

A lot of people would probably disagree with me, but I think Bauhaus is one of those examples that the whole is not always greater than the sum of its parts. As much as I like them, I always thought that Peter Murphy and Love And Rockets were better on their own. Maybe it's just that the heyday of their respective "solo" careers coincided with my formative music years, and I only heard Bauhaus through the rearview mirror. Whatever the reason, I'd take "Yin And Yang The Flowerpot Man" or "Cuts You Up" over anything the four of them recorded together. Although I do have to say that their concert at The Tabernacle in Atlanta on their first reunion tour 10 years ago was absolutely amazing.

Bauhaus will be releasing a new "farewell" album, Go Away White, on March 4. You can listen to one of the new songs, "Black Stone Heart," courtesy of Entertainment Weekly here. As much as it pains me to say it, I'm kinda underwhelmed. I hope the rest of the album is better than this.

So that's how it ends, this is how it began...

Bauhaus - "Boys" (mp3) from the Bela Lugosi's Dead single

Also, am I the only one who is amazed that David J. doesn't seemed to have aged at all in the past 30 years?

My Favorite Love Song

I think I've only had three Valentine's Day dates in my life. One went down as the absolute worst date I've ever had. One was more memorable for what didn't happen than what did. And the final one (which was actually the first, this list runs in reverse chronological order), I remember absolutely nothing about. I'm sure it was very nice, it just wasn't at all memorable. So I don't have a lot of warm, fuzzy memories of the holiday to give me fond feelings for it. But I'm certainly not bitter about it, like a LOT of people are. I really don't understand the hatred some people have for today. If you don't have someone, don't celebrate. It seems pretty easy to me. I don't see how a few Hallmark commercials are a reason to be pissed off at the world... unless you're already inclined towards feeling that way.

About a year and a half ago, I decided that this was my favorite love song. It's certainly not traditional, and if you're listening to it for the first time, you might be thinking "Darrin, you're kinda weird." But listen to the lyrics... there is a real sweetness to them. What initially might seem like neediness is really just the way most of us feel in the beginning of a relationship, when feelings just start to surface, and the uncertainty makes everything a bit more intense.

The Wedding Present - "Suck" (mp3)from Seamonsters

My second favorite love song? Quite possibly this...

Cinerama - "Your Charms" (mp3) from Disco Volante

I Got Blisters On My Fingers

Yesterday I went over to our singer's place to record a guitar part for our next EP (the one that will come out after our album is released in April... we tend to get ahead of ourselves). It was the first time I had played guitar in about a month, and prior to that it had been even longer since I played. And it showed. For starters, I couldn't play for shit. It's a song I'd played guitar on before, but since then I'd become both the bass player and (currently) drummer in our band. And since our new guitarist had appropriated about half of my old part for his part, I had to come up with something new. Which I did, but I couldn't pull it off very well. So after about a dozen attempts, I decided to split it into two parts, and played them on top of each other. Voila, problem solved. Thank god for multi-tracking.

But the real problem started today. My fingers f*cking hurt. The fingertips on my left hand are softer than a baby's bottom... not a hint of calluses. And that's kind of pathetic. So I made a belated New Year's resolution... play guitar for at least five minutes every day. I mean, hopefully more, but a minimum of five minutes. It'll keep both my skin and my skills in playing shape, so I won't have to dumb down my parts next time I try to record. And who knows, maybe I'll even get around to writing a new song with lyrics and everything, something I haven't pulled off in about five years (which is equally pathetic, but this post is self indulgent enough without getting into that).

Radiohead - "Anyone Can Play Guitar" (mp3) from Pablo Honey

Note: I'm well aware that it was Ringo that screamed "I got blisters on my fingers!" at the end of "Helter Skelter," not John, but it seemed like a good title for my whiney little post.

Peaceful Easy Feeling

Sad Apartment - Unisex (EP)

There seems to be a rule in Nashville that you can't be in just one band, you have to be in like five. The members of Sad Apartment certainly ahere to that rule, splitting their time playing with Ole Mossy Face, Duraluxe, and The Carter Administration. This project's sound is more twangy and laid back than any of their main bands, although it's more 70's style country rock than alt-country (their cover of the Eagle's "Take It Easy" is definitely more earnest than ironic). It'd be the perfect soundtrack for a lazy Sunday morning with a cup of coffee and a cigarette... if only I smoked.

Sad Apartment - "Stop Get Ready Go" (mp3)

Since they don't have any sort of online link to purchase the CD, check out The Opening Acts to snag another song from the EP.

Super Tuesday

If you're one of those who complains every four years that voting for President in November is basically choosing between the lesser of two evils, today is the day you can do something about it. Granted the primaries have basically boiled down to two candidates for each party (sorry Huckabee and Paul fans), but you've got a chance to determine which two of these four will be on the ballot in nine months. I'm not going to tell you who you should vote for today, but if I were...

I'll get off my soapbox now and get back to music.

The Shazam - "Super Tuesday" (mp3) from Godspeed The Shazam

Always The Quiet One

Peter Koppes - Misty Heights & Cloudy Memories

Peter Koppes is kind of the George Harrison of The Church. While Steve Kilbey gets most of the accolades, and Marty Willson-Piper most of the attention, Koppes has always been the member least likely to leap about on stage, but in many ways has been the musical glue that has held the group together (more or less) for 27 years. He started as the bands unquestioned lead guitarist, with a style that was often compared to David Gilmour. But in the late eighties, as the band's sound evolved from neo-psychedelic pop to atmospheric space rock, he began ceding more and more of the lead parts to Willson-Piper, and became resonsible for much of the sonic texure that has been the band's trademark over the second half of their existence.

Misty Heights & Cloudy Memories is a two disc compilation culled from two EPs and five albums Koppes recorded over the course of fifteen years. Tracking the evolution of his solo material that in many parallels that of his band, it begins with the "adult love songs" of 2002's Simple Intent and runs in reverse chronological order through the ethereal alt-pop of 1987's Manchild And Myth. The highlights of the collection are the songs he recorded with The Well, and Austrailian super group of sorts that also featured former Church drummer Richard Ploog. All three songs from the excellent (and long out of print) 1991 Iridescense EP are included, as well as six songs from their 1995 album Water Rites (recorded during the brief period in the early nineties that Koppes had left The Church). This new set also includes two previously unreleased tracks, plus "Grasshrooms," a bonus track on some copies of 1997's Love Era/Irony that was hidden at the beginning of the CD rather than the end.

Peter Koppes - "Peak To Peak" (mp3)
Peter Koppes - "Make A Move" (mp3)

The album will be available through Amazon on February 12, but you can get it sooner and cheaper directly from the source at Church Merch. The complete tracklist can be found here.