Morsels of News and a Wee List
Friends,
The Joni Mitchell book is officially out and available in the places that sell books like that. There's a pretty glorious review in The Stranger and generally positive reaction so far, except from one guy, who acted like I was handing him a dirty diaper and asking for a favor when I nonchalantly passed him a copy. Ah, well.
Life continues apace. 2007 remains a very optimistic time for me. To wit:
I'll be doing some shows with Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 in the coming months, both as an opening act (performing with Mark Nichols on piano as Sean Nelson and His Mortal Enemies) and as a member of the V3 (I am the official 5th Venusian).
The shows include these dates:
Friday, March 16 in Austin at SXSW (2 shows)
Sunday, March 18 in Nashville at the Belcourt Theater
Friday, April 6 in Seattle at the Crocodile
Saturday, April 7 in Portland at the Doug Fir
Sunday, April 8 in Eugene at some place
Tuesday, April 10 in SF at Slim's
Thursday, April 12 in LA at Spaceland
Saturday, April 14 in Tucson at Club Congress
These are the first "solo" shows I will have done in several years. Sets will include my own songs, some Nilsson stuff, some HD stuff, and some other stuff. It would please me if you were there.
There are other exciting developments on the horizon, too. For example, Harvey Danger recently celebrated the end of a very fruitful two-year album cycle (is this term too "industry"? is there even a separation between industry and audience anymore? does anybody out there even care?-Lenny Kravitz) for Little By Little... by participating in the Seattle edition of the Burn to Shine series. We played "Little Round Mirrors" in a beautiful home on Phinney Ridge, which was demolished later that day (after Ben Gibbard, Eddie Vedder, David Bazan, the Long Winters, Jesse Sykes, Spook the Horse, and a bunch of other people played in it, too). Everyone involved was smart and nice and conspicuously all about keeping the project fun and light, which it genuinely was. Also, we played really well. Probably won't do much else this year with HD, aside from writing, but one never knows. This was a classic opportunity to (in the words of my former basketball coach, who was, by the by, an obese prick) make our last shot. Keep your eyes trained here for deets and developments.
Another place you should probably keep your eye on is this place I'm saying there oughtta be something special there within days.
Also, at the risk of being cryptic, certain dinners were had with certain parties, and at said dinners, certain plans were hatched that will be of interest to other parties who enjoy certain musical projects. Before the year ends. That's all I'm saying.
And I think there's gonna be another Nelson Sings Nilsson show soon. May, I believe. More on that soon.
And I have stepped down as a host of KEXP's Audioasis. I intend to do other stuff for the station (and may fill in now and again), but after 5 years, the local music show has me feeling a little burned, which is one thing a radio host should never be. So down I step. Thanks for listening, if indeed you listened.
Finally, as promised, a wee list. Every year the year ends and I can't remember what records I liked because, ultimately, who cares? Well, I find that I care, so I'm keeping a monthly list of the records I genuinely enjoyed that month (and maybe singles, too, if I ever listen to the stupid radio again). And, you know, why not publish it? It won't all be new stuff, but this first one is more or less tied to release dates, except for the Midlake album, which I just managed to miss last year. Silly me, for it is a wonder.
January, 2007
Sloan Never Hear the End of ItDespite loving them in bits and pieces, I've never loved a Sloan album before this, and the fact that it comprises 30 songs (yes, 30 songs) on one disc (yes, one disc) is only one small factor. If more bands figured out that most songs don't actually need to be longer than :45 seconds long, the world would be a better place for music. And Robert Pollard would be poet laureate.
Crowded House Farewell to the World Again, never much cared for the records (scattered songs of course), but this 2x live album from their farewell shows in 1996 somehow shows a side I never appreciated before. Aaron H. was always such an apostle. I think I get why now.
Neil Young Live at Massey Hall, 1971 This is coming out in March. Right now, it's my favorite NY record of all time. Recorded between After the Gold Rush and Harvest leaning heavily on songs from both before they became burdensome to him. Everything is so fresh and urgent, and the Harvest songs are completely unadorned. It's also amazing to hear a Neil acoustic show with an audience respectful enough (reverent, actually) not to be shouting CINNAMON GIRL! during every quiet moment like they do now.
Of Montreal Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? Yeah, guess what: I never liked them before. I was told they were good, but I couldn't let go of the first wave of Elephant 6. Then I heard all their live covers online and started melting. Then I heard this and was sold. This is a fucking strong, spazzy, smart record. The three esses, courtesy of the new Danny Rose.
Welcome Sirs Last time I saw these guys would've been around 1995, maybe at Re-Bar, probably with This Busy Monster or the Adding Machine or Babe the Blue Ox or some such. This psychy and subdued record (coming out in March on Fat Cat) is way better than what I remember them sounding like, which you would hope after 12 years. The same can't be said for all of us, obviously.
The Good, The Bad & The Queen The Good, The Bad & The Queen Because it's usually safe to assume that when shabby aging punkers (and would-be punkers) get together it's because they're bored and salty, I assumed this thing with Mr. Blur and Mr. Clash and Mr. Verve and Mr. Fela Kuti was going to be super raw and chunky. It's totally not. What it is is mellow and gentle, but still agitated and paranoid. One ofr the most unusual bandy records I've heard in a long while. Can I just say now, once and for all that I fucking love Blur and always have? OK, thanks.
The Joni Mitchell book is officially out and available in the places that sell books like that. There's a pretty glorious review in The Stranger and generally positive reaction so far, except from one guy, who acted like I was handing him a dirty diaper and asking for a favor when I nonchalantly passed him a copy. Ah, well.
Life continues apace. 2007 remains a very optimistic time for me. To wit:
I'll be doing some shows with Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 in the coming months, both as an opening act (performing with Mark Nichols on piano as Sean Nelson and His Mortal Enemies) and as a member of the V3 (I am the official 5th Venusian).
The shows include these dates:
Friday, March 16 in Austin at SXSW (2 shows)
Sunday, March 18 in Nashville at the Belcourt Theater
Friday, April 6 in Seattle at the Crocodile
Saturday, April 7 in Portland at the Doug Fir
Sunday, April 8 in Eugene at some place
Tuesday, April 10 in SF at Slim's
Thursday, April 12 in LA at Spaceland
Saturday, April 14 in Tucson at Club Congress
These are the first "solo" shows I will have done in several years. Sets will include my own songs, some Nilsson stuff, some HD stuff, and some other stuff. It would please me if you were there.
There are other exciting developments on the horizon, too. For example, Harvey Danger recently celebrated the end of a very fruitful two-year album cycle (is this term too "industry"? is there even a separation between industry and audience anymore? does anybody out there even care?-Lenny Kravitz) for Little By Little... by participating in the Seattle edition of the Burn to Shine series. We played "Little Round Mirrors" in a beautiful home on Phinney Ridge, which was demolished later that day (after Ben Gibbard, Eddie Vedder, David Bazan, the Long Winters, Jesse Sykes, Spook the Horse, and a bunch of other people played in it, too). Everyone involved was smart and nice and conspicuously all about keeping the project fun and light, which it genuinely was. Also, we played really well. Probably won't do much else this year with HD, aside from writing, but one never knows. This was a classic opportunity to (in the words of my former basketball coach, who was, by the by, an obese prick) make our last shot. Keep your eyes trained here for deets and developments.
Another place you should probably keep your eye on is this place I'm saying there oughtta be something special there within days.
Also, at the risk of being cryptic, certain dinners were had with certain parties, and at said dinners, certain plans were hatched that will be of interest to other parties who enjoy certain musical projects. Before the year ends. That's all I'm saying.
And I think there's gonna be another Nelson Sings Nilsson show soon. May, I believe. More on that soon.
And I have stepped down as a host of KEXP's Audioasis. I intend to do other stuff for the station (and may fill in now and again), but after 5 years, the local music show has me feeling a little burned, which is one thing a radio host should never be. So down I step. Thanks for listening, if indeed you listened.
Finally, as promised, a wee list. Every year the year ends and I can't remember what records I liked because, ultimately, who cares? Well, I find that I care, so I'm keeping a monthly list of the records I genuinely enjoyed that month (and maybe singles, too, if I ever listen to the stupid radio again). And, you know, why not publish it? It won't all be new stuff, but this first one is more or less tied to release dates, except for the Midlake album, which I just managed to miss last year. Silly me, for it is a wonder.
January, 2007
Sloan Never Hear the End of ItDespite loving them in bits and pieces, I've never loved a Sloan album before this, and the fact that it comprises 30 songs (yes, 30 songs) on one disc (yes, one disc) is only one small factor. If more bands figured out that most songs don't actually need to be longer than :45 seconds long, the world would be a better place for music. And Robert Pollard would be poet laureate.
Crowded House Farewell to the World Again, never much cared for the records (scattered songs of course), but this 2x live album from their farewell shows in 1996 somehow shows a side I never appreciated before. Aaron H. was always such an apostle. I think I get why now.
Neil Young Live at Massey Hall, 1971 This is coming out in March. Right now, it's my favorite NY record of all time. Recorded between After the Gold Rush and Harvest leaning heavily on songs from both before they became burdensome to him. Everything is so fresh and urgent, and the Harvest songs are completely unadorned. It's also amazing to hear a Neil acoustic show with an audience respectful enough (reverent, actually) not to be shouting CINNAMON GIRL! during every quiet moment like they do now.
Of Montreal Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? Yeah, guess what: I never liked them before. I was told they were good, but I couldn't let go of the first wave of Elephant 6. Then I heard all their live covers online and started melting. Then I heard this and was sold. This is a fucking strong, spazzy, smart record. The three esses, courtesy of the new Danny Rose.
Welcome Sirs Last time I saw these guys would've been around 1995, maybe at Re-Bar, probably with This Busy Monster or the Adding Machine or Babe the Blue Ox or some such. This psychy and subdued record (coming out in March on Fat Cat) is way better than what I remember them sounding like, which you would hope after 12 years. The same can't be said for all of us, obviously.
The Good, The Bad & The Queen The Good, The Bad & The Queen Because it's usually safe to assume that when shabby aging punkers (and would-be punkers) get together it's because they're bored and salty, I assumed this thing with Mr. Blur and Mr. Clash and Mr. Verve and Mr. Fela Kuti was going to be super raw and chunky. It's totally not. What it is is mellow and gentle, but still agitated and paranoid. One ofr the most unusual bandy records I've heard in a long while. Can I just say now, once and for all that I fucking love Blur and always have? OK, thanks.
posted by Sean Nelson at 10:29 AM
6 Comments:
Well!!
* buffs nails *
apparently we spurred the horse enough for an update.
i will see you, sir, at slim's.
I finally got around to getting the Sloan record last week. (This is strange for me, since I am usually L'il Miss Sloan Superfan.) I'm loving it. It's a return to form. I wasn't too keen on Action Pact, and Pretty Together was meh. This, however, is reminding me of why I drove my officemates crazy when One Chord To Another came out. Of course, they'll probably never play Philly again since the last time I saw them there, there were a grand total of maybe 40 people in the TLA. Naturally, that show was amazing. Ugh.
i withdraw my intial comment and replace it, literally, with
rrrringtone.
I saw your performance tonight at Slim's (SF), and was blown away. Bravo!
Wishing for your solo album so I can try to recreate the experience...if that's even possible.
Definitely a new fan!
I fucking love Blur too. Next time you interview Graham tell him Seattle wants to see them reform since their drummer isn't off becoming part of "even newer labour."
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