L.A. Weekly: In defense of ’70s radio-pop. No, I wasn’t named after Casey Kasem. But I’d be flattered to have been.
Big choices over Zombie Jesus Weekend, namely, which flick to see — The Host or Grindhouse?
We saw the latter. The Robert Rodriguez half was far superior to Quentin Tarantino’s. Apparently, Mr. Rez Dawg thinks paying homage to schlock cinema is the perfect opportunity to write boring, self-referential dialog that goes nowhere slowly. The worst part? He didn’t even make a grindhouse picture — he made a shitty Tarrantino one.
The fake trailers were by far the best part of the film, surprise, surprise.
False 45th have it out for Lindsay Buckingham and the Burlington Free Press. Who will they attack next — Zombie Jesus? (For more info on ZJ, check your local repository of all things Undead).
Had an illuminating conversation with Mr. Greg Davis on Sunday. Then it was back to Casa Del Casey for another round of “Veronica Mars.” Well, there was an hour break to catch the first of the last episodes of “The Sopranos.”
I love Christian Fennesz and Ryuichi Sakamoto. You should, too. Have a listen:
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The Robert Rodriguez half was right up your alley, though. He did all the music himself, and it was awesome in a Romero/Goblin kind of way. The script was wonderfully atrocious. It’s hard to write that bad. Takes talent. Freddy Rodriguez from “Six Feet Under” was all faux-serious, like a clueless porn star. And Michael Biehn was just plain funny. Haven’t hardly seen him since Aliens. Of course, the mood of naughty good times was completely ruined by Tarantino’s half, which could be rightfully called “too self-aware and self-congratulatory.” The saddest part is that he’s, like, Mr. Grindhouse, yet it seemed like he couldn’t let go of his ego enough to make a bad movie awesomely. Instead, he made an awesomely bad movie.
We saw The Host! It was cute. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it, I think, a lot more than I would’ve Grindhouse. I do love ‘splosions and guns and cars and blood and death and stuff, but… Grindhouse just seems too self-aware and self-congratulatory.
casey you missed the gong bath dude….
Point well taken! It just seems like The Books didn’t perform until well after the initial glowing reviews of “Lemon of Pink” appeared, and same with CYHSY. I guess to me it’s not so much the shock of the talent, it’s that there’s so much in a short time period & they’re such timely bookings–right after some major critical recognition and/or album releases for Clipse, Deerhoof, CYHSY, Akron/Family (fingers crossed), etc.It’s just so seldom that I get into a band and just weeks or months later they’re playing at Higher Ground. I feel like I’m living in NYC only without the traffic, high rent & revival movie houses 🙂
Well, in the few years that I’ve been at this post I’ve witnessed some surprising acts come through HG: Antony & The Johnsons, Brightblack Morning Light and The Books are among the first that come to mind. Then again, it seems like moe. and G. Love are here at least a couple times a year. But they also had Wolf Parade, Wolf Eyes, Of Montreal and Deerhoof. And, love ’em or not (me = not) this is CYHSY’s second HG appearance.So I dunno.
Excellent theory Casey, and I think you’re dead on. It’s hard enough for a music venue like Higher Ground to stay in business in small area like Burlington, and damn near impossible if they were only catering to specialized tastes. Martin Scorcese had a quote about filmmaking that said (to paraphrase) you have to make an entertaining movie & try your best to sneak the art in. This is what I see Higher Ground doing–catering to the popular taste & then booking some more challenging acts that might not bring in as much revenue.I also agree with your theory on seasons–not only do more people go out to shows in the summertime, a lot of people tend to enjoy more introspective music in the winter and fun, jump-around kind of music when the seasonal depression wears off. So again, it makes since that we would be seeing more experimental bands making an appearance at HG now.But even still, it seems like the next few months has more indie/experimental/whatever talent compressed into it than I have seen at HG over the past couple of years combined. It definitely seems like something is going on there, whether it be newly enlightened staff, new inputs or just a good year revenue-wise so they figured, what the heck, let’s give some people a treat. Either way, I’m just happy to have it while it lasts!
I don’t have the direct mindlink to the HG hive, but I do have a few pet theories as to why this happens.To my understanding, those who book/influence the booking at HG are definitely interested in indie-rock, experimental and other, non-jam musics. But at a certain time of the year (ie: when the college students return) they typically shift towards stuff that they know will put asses in the building. This is akin to squirrels hoarding nuts before a long winter; all local businesses seem to practice a form of this.Then, once it gets really brutal outside, things kind of slow down on all fronts. It’s tough to motivate folks to leave their houses on nights when it’s below freezing — I’m certainly no exception, and it’s part of my job. The shows reach their lowest ebb around the holidays. They’ll continue to pick up from now ’til spring.At that time, a lot more bands will start touring more heavily, which increases the lot from which to pick. It still takes convincing to bring some bands up here, especially if they’re percieved to be on a fast track. It’s better for them to saturate major markets at that point. If it weren’t for Montreal, we’d likely be dead in the water.Vermont is weird in general… the perception is we’re ruled by jam, and to be honest, we are one of the more reliable markets for touring acts of that ilk. But it’s been demonstrated that there is an audience for other stuff; it’s just more difficult to predict turnout. I think HG is doing the best they can considering all of the variables. They bring in metal, comedy and mainstream country, too — all performance genres that can easily be overlooked in a town this small. So I say, be psyched when something you like comes to their club. The best way to ensure it keeps happening is by attending the show.
Awww, shucks…. **blushes**I wasn’t sure if I was getting five hits a week at this point; guess I better keep it going!So here’s a question–what’s going on at Higher Ground? I had been so disillusioned with their booking decisions for awhile, and suddenly it’s like someone discovered the Pazz and Jop poll and had a life-changing experience. Is someone new handling the booking there or are outside influences at play? Inquiring minds want to know….
Yeah, the cat’s outta the bag, if it ever it was in: I don’t like VT winters. They’re rough on my old man bones. Mark Fry is definitely some airy-faery goodness, fo sho.I visit your blog every damn day, dude — often up to and/or exceeding five times! In fact, I’m heading there right now!
Temperature? I was ridden with the plague & I still made it out–suck it up old man! :)I love that Mark Fry track; I definitely will be picking up that album ASAP–thanks!And thanks as well for posting to my review of the Sun Circle/Wind-Up Bird show. I lost my site counter when I upgraded my blog software and I’ve been wondering if anyone still visits anymore.