When you blink your eyes...

I witnessed an excellent Canadian based concert last night with my buddy Justin at the Conservatory in OKC.

The first band was actually a band from Oklahoma called Ice Walters. They weren't too bad, I've heard worse opening bands. I wouldn't run out and buy their album right now but they have potential.

Next up was probably the best performance of the night with a band called Arcade Fire. Arcade Fire is based out of Montreal as are the Unicorns, the headlining band and the reason I went to the show. They are a six piece with 4 males and 2 females. They dressed sort of like the rentals, all in dorky looking 'Sunday' clothes. They were beautifully geeky. They featured a violin player and a keyboard player who was a girl with a frilly black dress and a pink bow in her hair. The nerdiest fellow played accordian on several tracks, he had some great David Byrne style herky-jerky body movements to go along with it. When they started playing and screaming their lyrics in harmony at the top of their lungs it made the hair stand up on the back of my neck, absolutely great sound. In several ways they reminded me of the Broken Social Scene with more of a traditional song structure. The member's of Arcade Fire would often switch instruments after each song. The lead singer was outstanding, excellent emotive vocal sound. This band went to further prove the theory that Canada is the new Brooklyn of music. You can get a few of their mp3's on the website, but they are no where as good as seeing them live. I will definitely pick up the full length they have scheduled for release in September. I did get a 7" at the show that was decent but was kind of old and not near as good as the material in the show.

The Unicorns came out next and they began with a monologue/free verse poetry type of thing starting with "This tour is against fascism". It was a good performance. Many songs sounded a lot different than the album since they are based on electronic post production in several cases. It was a lot of fun though. Their was a few lulls when they were working on their instruments and one of them was trying to tell a joke. He said they had read it in a bathroom stall in Texas. He said "Why doesn't Texas fall of into the ocean? Because Oklahoma sucks". That wasn't a smart move, part of the crowd started to turn on him. But in an effort to extend an olive branch he said Oklahoma can be the honorary "12th or 11th province of Canada" (he wasn't exactly sure how many provinces were in Canada at the time) which several didn't see as a good thing. A few songs later there was another lull and the same singer said he couldn't continue because a girl in the front row was talking too loud. He kept saying he was sorry to interrupt her by playing music. He finally gave her the microphone and she said she was sorry but someone had just "elbowed her in the titty, but the Unicorns rock." It was a good time, Canadian people make me laugh.

I'm excited to get to go see the Unicorns tonight. I'm curious to see how they will sound in concert, I think it will be a lot of fun. The album Who Will Cut our Hair When We're Gone has been frequently on my playlist since I got it awhile back.

I'm also going to get to see Spoon on Friday. Its at Opolis which is a very tiny venue in Norman. I think the best shows are in very small venues because you really get right up close to the band and see everything that is going on. Also, the prices are much cheaper.

Just Like Honey
Just Like Honey
Just Like Honey

I was watching Lost in Translation last night and decided to go out and get Psychocandy after seeing the final scene feature 'Just Like Honey' again. I have been wanting this album for awhile and I actually looked for it at Guest Room last week but they didn't have it. They must have got it in a shipment today so I felt lucky. The only thing that sucks is that it cost $21 because it is an import only and has very poor distributing in the US. Well, it was worth it, its an amazing album. It was a logical progression after going through Joy Division, Echo and the Bunnymen, Birthday Party, and My Bloody Valentine. I've read that all The Jesus and Mary Chain are is a combination of Velvet Underground and Beach Boys plus a lot of fuzz. Well, that is somewhat true but there is also just a cool feeling and style about this album that is hard to describe. When listening to this I thought a lot about Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the Clinic, 2 modern groups that remind me at times of the sound of Psychocandy. I also was reminded of My Bloody Valentine at times with the wall of noise that is prevalent on many tracks. My favorite track after about 3 listens is 'Cut Dead' which should make it to a mix CD in the near future.

I watched Chinatown last night in its entirety last night for the first time and finally was able to see its greatness. I had seen bits and pieces of it throughout the years on tv and knew it was a classic but only now see how truly excellent it is. As with some of the other best movies of all time, the ending was perfect. There is no way to predict what is going to happen in the end.

When watching this movie I kept noticing that one of my favorite movies, The Big Lebowski had borrowed several things from Chinatown. Really, the films are completely different but it may just be that I've seen Lebowski so many times that I noticed the similarities. For example:

1. The Dude is being paid by both a father and a daughter as is Jake Gittes


2. The Dude is has 'coitus' with the daughter as does Jake Gittes


3. Both Cross and The Big Lebowski are trying to get a girl back which is part of the mystery of both films


4. The Dude is hit in the jaw and Jake Gittes has his nose cut which is in a way endearing to both Maude Lebowski and Evelyn Mulwray, respectively.


5. The "chinaman" pees on The Dude's rug which is a term used several times in Chinatown


6. The Dude and Jake Gittes crash their cars while being followed


7. The Dude is a smartass to the chief of police of Malibu in a similar way to how Gittes talks to Escobar

I just got Virgin Suicides on dvd today and watched it for the first time. I thought it was excellent. I had heard about it for a long time but didn't get a chance to watch it until now. I saw Sofia Coppola's next movie, Lost in Translation in the theater and fell in love with that film which I also got on dvd today. I normally don't like Josh Hartnett but I thought he did pretty well in this one. Kirsten Dunst really showed the potential that I think she's started to realize now. The soundtrack by Air is of course excellent which is a huge part of a film in my opinion. There was a time when I'd listen to Playground Love on repeat for several weeks when it first came out several years back. It was great how it was worked into the entire film. I'm a fan of beautiful sadness and I think this film fits into that category.

I've been feeling kind of sick of work lately. I really need a vacation. I've got a 1.5 week vacation scheduled at the end of August to go to England but that's still 2.5 months away. I'm feeling kind of melancholy in general, its been helping me to listen to this Elefant album. I've probably listened to it about 5-6 times in the last 24 hours. Its the perfect vibe for the way I feel right now. Its slowly helping to improve my mood.

I just finished listening to Elefant - Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid. I've been wanting to get this for awhile since I first saw the video for 'Misfit' on Subterranean and couldn't stop singing it in my head. I think its a pretty good album. It was easy to make it all the way through without wanting to skip a track. It fits right in with some of my current music preferences. It is somewhat like a more reserved, slightly more British sounding version of Interpol but good in its own way. I can definitely see some of these tracks making it onto some future mix CDs.

On another note, I was walking on the sidewalk from my car to Hideaway Pizza in Edmond yesterday with my buddy Kevin. While talking and not paying attention I walked right into an overhanging street sign and got whapped in the head. At the moment of impact I uttered a 4-letter expletive without thinking. Then I noticed there was a family eating outside with their kids close by, I quickly turned and walked off in shame. Later, in the restaurant, another lady who was sitting out side walked by and started laughing when she saw my face. The end.

Oompa Loompa, doompadee doo
I have a perfect puzzle for you
Oompa Loompa, doompadee dee
If you are wise you will listen me
What do you get when you guzzle down sweets?
Eating as much as an elephant eats?
I don't like the look of it

A friend from work had a birthday yesterday so we went out to celebrate. I've got 2 words for you, "midget" "strippers". Yes, it was hilarious. All I could keep thinking of the entire time was the oompa loompa song from Willy Wonka. In a way it was slightly disturbing, in another way it almost made me piss myself from laughing so hard. I was thinking how it would have been even more funny if they came out in Oompa Loompa costumes. It was interesting how many people showed up to see them, I didn't realize midget strippers would be so popular. Unfortunately they did not climb the poll or anything, I was hoping they would shimmy wall the way up. They did do a bit of rump shaking, some cart wheels and hand stands which was admirable. I think they would fit well into a David Lynch film. Anyway, it was an interesting experience.

I watched High Fidelity again for the millionth time. Its one that always makes me feel good. Its up there with my most watched movies of all time including 1) Pulp Fiction 2) Big Lebowski 3) High Fidelity.

No matter how many times I watch it I usually notice a new band reference in the scenery that I hadn't noticed before. Last time I noticed the record that Barry wasn't going to sell the customer and sold to Louis for $40 instead was the first Captain Beefheart album. Another time I noticed a Guided by Voices poster on the door. There are many more but I can't think of them right now.

I had been thinking about getting a record player for awhile and finally happened upon this one in a pawn shop for a reasonable price:

It is a dj style turntable which is kind of cool but I don't plan on doing any scratching on it. It plays records very well, however, which was the point. I ended up going on a lp buying spree for the last few days and ended up quite a few good ones and you can see on my current music section which I just updated. I now added format as a column so you can see which ones are on CD and which are on LP. One that I have been listening to over and over is the Diana Ross album, it really has an amazing feeling to it. I've also listened to Ziggy Stardust several times. Its going to take awhile for me to really absorb all this music, but I've had it going constantly since I got it so far.

I had to get a phono preamp so the record player would work properly with my new receiver but once I finally got that it sounds great. There is just something that seems more warm and full about the sound from a record player. I really enjoy listening to music on it especially older records. I want to try and find some great old jazz and blues records sometime.