Everybody Wants A Good Time

My friend Taylor just sent me a link to this Gomez NPR Webcast recorded live at the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C. last night. Sounds like it was a great show, with lots of familiar shenanigans from when they were here in Atlanta. Here's a link to the NPR piece.

They've still got a few stops left on their summer tour, including a couple of gigs with Slow Runner opening, so check them out if you have a chance.

Setlist:

1. bring it on
   
2. shot shot
   
3. all too much
   
4. love is better than a warm trombone
   
5. see the world
   
6. nothing is wrong
   
7. ping one down
   
8. notice
   
9. silence
   
10. how we operate
    
11. ruff stuff
    
12. hamoa beach
    
13. girlshapedlovedrug
    
14. free to run
    
15. fill my cup
    
16. devil will ride
    
17. chasing ghosts with alcohol (encore)
    
18. make no sound (encore)
    
19. detroit swing 66 (encore)
    
20. whippin' piccadilly (encore)

That's all I got. Happy Friday, ya'll.

D-Mac


COMING SOON: Lamkini & D-Mac review the East Atlanta Corndogorama? Stay tuned...

Our Heroes In Their Natural Habitat

Here we catch a rare glimpse of Lamkini and Dmac doing what they do best: drinking and talking about stuff. They sometimes talk so much they turn into lamps.

That's what happened on this particular night. It was a strange night anyway. Everyone else at this party was dressed like a ninja. There were some geishas. Mostly ninjas. We didn't actually see the ninjas, but we heard they were there. Ninjas are a wiley sort. Personally, I don't trust 'em.

Right now you're asking yourself, "Isn't this blog supposed to be about the arts, music, film and the like?" Yes. Yes it is.

Apocalypse Shmapocalypse

So apparently the end of days finally came yesterday, and frankly, I feel fine. I don't see what all the hoopla was about. I didn't hear any trumpets sounding, nor did I catch any of the Four Horsemen parading around. I wasn't bothered by any swarming locusts or really even any more mosquitos than usual for that matter. I honestly thought the big A-Day would be much more ceremonious than this. Now I find myself questioning whether the whole ordeal was just overhyped for all these years, or if maybe the aftermath is all being downplayed by the Liberal Media. Maybe I should be watching Fox News instead.

Side note: Why do people keep referring to yesterday's date, 6-6-06 as a "numerological oddity" anyway? Personally, I think it'd be more of an oddity if the day after June 5th, 2006 were any other date.

Okay, so yesterday's news was hardly Apocalyptic by any stretch of the imagination, but a few things happened worth noting: The Braves ended their five-game losing streak at home, the startup company I used to work for finally got bought out (for peanuts) after five years and a couple dozen rounds of venture funding, and Alexi Murdoch quietly released his long-anticipated first full-length studio album.

It's about time. No, literally, it's about time. The album, titled Time Without Consequence, is an effort almost four years in the making, following his debut Four Songs EP.

Before you say it, yes, Alexi Murdoch is that Scottish-born singer/songwriter guy who sounds kinda like Nick Drake and sings that "Orange Sky" song that you heard in Garden State, or on that episode of Dawson's Creek, or on The OC, or on that Honda commercial, or wherever you heard it first. He's the worst kept secret in today's indie/folk music scene, whose self-released Four Songs EP quickly became the all-time top selling record on CD Baby with little promotion shortly after its release in November 2002. Without the backing of a major record label, Murdoch has managed to become the definitive go-to guy for any television producer, filmmaker, or advertising executive looking for a fresh new balladeer to help market another SUV or digital appliance to the lovesick twenty-something demographic. But that doesn't mean he's not still a freaking great musician.

Time Without Consequence contains three of the four songs off the original EP ("Song For You", "Blue Mind", and "Orange Sky") along with eight new tracks. The album as a whole is refreshingly consistent, and can and should be listened to from beginning to end. No skipping to your favorite song, A.D.D. boy. Be patient with this one. I picked up my copy this morning and have already listened to it four times. Here are a couple of tracks to whet your appettite until you can get yourself to a record store:

Alexi Murdoch - All My Days
Alexi Murdoch - Love You More

You can also preview some other tracks from the album here.

Alexi will be in Atlanta for an in-store appearance at Criminal Records on Saturday, June 17th at 3pm.

A Hard Day's Night

Last night we saw A Hard Day's Night. It was playing at an outdoor movie series at Piedmont Park in Atlanta. Before the movie a Beatles tribute band called The Return played. They dressed like the Beatles, moved like them, and even faked the Liverpool accents fairly successfully. It's was kitschy but cool. Why, though, do Beatles tribute bands never dress like all psychodelic or geek chic? Wouldn't it be cool to be like, "Oh there's a band. I wonder what it is." Then they start playing and you're like all surprised because maybe you thought they were going to be a Country Joe And The Fish cover band or whatever. That'd be cool I think.

Anyway, A Hard Day's Night was awesome. It's easily one of my favorite movies, so funny, so happy. One time I watched A Hard Day's Night at a brew-n-view type movie theater in Asheville, NC, where you can eat pizza and drink beer while you watch the movie. They call your name out when your pizza is ready, and I convinced the guy to yell out, instead of my name, "Hey Mister, can we have our ball back!?" He did it really loud and that part had just passed in the movie. It was like the coolest thing that ever happened to me in Asheville.

I noticed this time watching the movie, and was a little surprised, that George gets so many of the best lines: [Looking at a weird piece of modern art] "You don't see many of these any more." And the songs are just perfect. Standout songs in the movie are "Should Have Known Better" "Tell Me Why" "Can't Buy Me Love" and "If I Fell." God I love those songs.

It's just impossible to feel anything other than almost giddy while watching A Hard Day's Night and the vibe in the audience totally reflected that. People were super cool to each other. Everyone laughed at all the cheeky British humor. And best of all, everyone clapped and cheered after every song. That was awesome.

It was even supposed to rain, and dark clouds seemed to surround us all night with lightening flashing so close that sometimes it made the speakers crackle. But it never rained until right when the movie ended. A Hard Day's Night is magic. I'm convinced.