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Welcome
to the first ever edition of The Veracity View. This is a very special
issue because I literally traveled from coast to coast in search
of great music.
Rock
music-wise, Dallas is superseded by Texas's ultracool, slacker
town Austin. Dallas seems to have a cool downtown scene and
all, but it feels like it's about a zillion degrees there now and
plus it's humid. My time there was marked by sweat, frizzy hair
and ... Billy Corgan. That's
right, the former Mr. Pumpkin himself played an outrageously cool
show at the Gypsy Tea Room,
as part of his Future Embrace
solo tour. When Corgan walked onstage, all 1,000 people crammed
togther in the small club went into a Dionysian frenzy. I was lucky
enough to be right in front of the stage, so be sure to check out
the pics taken by yours truly. Corgan and friends put on a great
audiovisual experience -- light
show, elctronic drums, keyboards and all. He didn't even keep his
amp onstage because (I'm guessing) it would have ruined the whole
look. Check out his solo stuff, but just don't go expecting your
typical rock concert. After the show, Corgan even gave a few autographs
with the one rule that no one pushed (remember the Infinite Sadness
tour). |
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Yes,
Billy Corgan still knows how to rock Dallas. |
Guitar
solo, anyone? Billy Corgan in Dallas, TX, USA. |
Nashville
was uneventful. My mom and I stopped there and planned to visit her
cousin Felix Cavaliere from the 60's rock group The
Young Rascals ("Groovin'", "Beautiful
Morning," etc.) Unfortunately, he was on tour at the time,
so hopefully we'll see him this month in AZ. The
Siren Music Festival
was everything a music event should be -- packed with good bands
and lots or merch for sale and ... FREE. Nine bands, nine
hours -- all totally free! What more could you want? Indie favorites
Spoon were among the indie all-star
lineup that brought good rock to Coney Island (Brooklyn).
The crowd was so massive that I couldn't get close enough to the
stage to get good pics, but I did get a cool T-shirt, though, which
I've been proudly wearing back in the Southwest.
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Speaking
of the Southwest, believe it or not, it's not a total desert devoid
of good music. A few days after getting back to Tucson, I went
down to Waterworks West Recording,
where I've been an intern for two years. My first Saturday back, one
of the coolest bands I've ever seen in my life, Fish Karma, was recording.
Fish Karma was just finishing
up a CD for Alternative Tentacles
out of San Francisco. It seems that punk legend
Jello Biafra is sort of overseeing the whole thing and,
boy, does he have good taste in music. Fish Karma is truly amazing
in a Beat poet sort of way. They remind me of
Lou Reed and all the music greats. I was in total awe
the whole time they were recording and was totally floored when I
got to sing backup on a song called "Moving to New Jersey."
When you listen to the CD (to be released early 2006), listen for
my "ooh-ooh"s during the chorus. No joke.
Last night, I saw The Jons play
at a local club and, let me tell you, they're getting too big to be
a bar band. Complete with a snazzy intro and a Corganesque light show
going on in, they looked like, well, rock stars. Of course, it helps
that their "boy-next-door" good looks make them worthy of
being one of those "boy bands" that we Americans
love to inflict upon the world. The fact is that Tucson loves the
Jons and I love them too. They play good music and, most importantly,
they're really nice people. The Jons are also recording with Waterworks'
Jim Waters of Sonic Youth and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
fame. Jim is an absolute recording genius, a quick listen to the Goo
demos, a Jon Spencer record, etc. will tell you that. Plus, he's one
of the nicest people you'll ever meet. Any Frenchmen and women
reading this might recognize his work with
The Little Rabbits and Married
Monk. |
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A
scene from St. Elmo's Fire?
No, Jason from The Jons. |
So, that's the news from this side of the Atlantic. Thanks for reading.
See ya next month. In the meantime, I'll be looking out for more
music news to tell you about and trying to form a new band. Any
drummers out there?
Top
10 Songs to Add to Your iPod Before the Next Veracity View:
1.
"An Honest Mistake" by the
Bravery (NYC, USA) -- So what if they're the most
hated band in NYC?
2. "Lua" by Bright Eyes
(somewhere in Nebraska, USA) -- What emotion am I supposed
to be feeling?
3. "Poor Floor" by The
Bed (London, UK) -- A former SkidMark band. Listen
to this song and think.
4. "Autopilot" by La Cerca
(Tucson, USA) -- Yes, when you leave you are replaced.
5. "Evil" by Interpol
-- Did Joy Division's Ian Curtis come back to life?
6. "Hand that Feeds" by Nine
Inch Nails -- Because just about everyone has an
opinion of current world politics.
7. "Loki Cat" by Jimmy Chamberlin Complex (Chicago,
USA) with guest vocals by Billy Corgan -- While we're
still waiting for the rumored Smashing Pumpkin regrouping
8. "Walking Shade" by Billy
(Chicago, USA) -- See above.
9. "One" by U2 (Dublin,
Ireland) -- Wasn't Live 8 great?
10. Anything by the Killers (Las
Vegas, USA) -- The best Britpop band to come from Las
Vegas?!!!! |
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